t 



7/ 






\ 



nl/h 



1971 DECISION OF TIIE SUPREME COURT 

83 OF PORTO RICO 

py 1 

AND DISSENTING OPINION 
IN THE CASE OF 



THE ROMAN CATHOLIC APOSTOLIC CHURCH 

OF PORTO RICO 

vs. 

THE PEOPLE OF PORTO RICO 



"^-^y^^ 



WASHINGTON 

OOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 

1909 



f^B 27 1909 






O 



49 In the Supreme Court of Porto Rico. 

No. 1. 

The Reverend Diocesan Prelate of the Roman Catholic 
Apostolic Church in Porto Rico, Plaintiff, 

vs. 
The People of Porto Rico, Defendant. 

Relating to the Recovery of Certain Properties Belonging to the 
Catholic Church in this Island and the Obtaining, in Consequence 
Thereof, of Certain Indemnities. 

Opinion of the Court, 

Rendered by the Chief Justice Quifiones, San Juan, Porto Rico, 

15th of December, 1906. 

50 The Attorney, Juan Hernandez Lopez, in the name and 
representation of the Most Illustrious, the Bishop of the Dio- 
cese of Porto Rico, in his character as such, and consequently, with 
the full representation and powers that pertain to him, as Diocesan 
Prelate of the Roman Apostolic Catholic Church in this Island, 
and in conformity with the provisions authorized and established 
by the law of the Legislative Assembly, of the 10th of March, 1904, 
filed in this Supreme Court a complaint out of which has originated 
this suit, against The People of Porto Rico, in order that the latter 
be condemned to restore to the Roman Catholic Apostolic Church, 
the properties existing in its possession, and which were derived 
from the Religious Communities of Friars of Santo Domingo and 
San Francisco, which existed in this city, and were abolished and 
of whose property the Government of this Island, took possession 
in the year 1838, by virtue of the Laws entitled ^'Laws of Eccle- 
siastical Disamortization," which were promulgated in Spain; and 
that, although said property had later on been declared to belong 
excbisively to the itoman Apostolic Catholic Church, the same as all 
other properties of like origin, existing in the possession of the 
Government of Spain, and the latter had contracted the solemn obli- 
gation to restore the same to the Catholic Church, in accordance 
with the Stipulations, contained in the Concordats concluded with 
the Holy See, during the years 1851 and 1859, the Government of 
Porto . ico never carried into effect the said restitution, but retained 
in its possession the property of the abolished Ixehgious Communi- 
ties, until the change of Sovereignty occurred in this Island; and 



4 ROMAN CATHOLIC APOS. CHURCH VS. PEOPLE OF PORTO RICO. 

afterwards, said property, by virtue of the Treaty of Paris, passed 

into the possession of the Government of the United States, and 

from the latter, to The People of Porto Rico, which possesses 

51 and enjovs the same at the present time, and the said attor- 
ney likewise requests that, as a consequence of the aforesaid 

restitution, the Court order The People of Porto Rico, to pay to the 
Roman Apostolic Cathohc Church, the revenues and products which 
have been produced, or should have been produced, by the restored 
properties, from the 18th of October, 1898, until the date of their 
restitution, which revenues and products are to be fixed by this Hon. 
Court, after havino; heard the opinion of experts, in accordance with 
the law, and, besides, the amount of the capitals of quitrents which 
have been redeemed by the persons who were obliged to pay the 
same, from the aforesaid date up to the present time, or which may. 
be redeemed later on, until the execution of the Judgment, and the 
legal interest due on those amounts, at the rate of six per cent, 
per year; the Court being further requested, to impose upon the de- 
fendant the costs of the suit. 

The principal ground of this complaint is contained in the alle- 
gation that, the Church having been separated from the State, in 
consequence of the Change of Sovereignty which has occurred in 
this Island, and the Catholic Church being without means of any 
kind, with which to provide for its necessities, as from the same day, 
on which this Island was occupied by the American Arm}^, said 
Church ceased to receive the amount which had been assigned to it 
in the Budgets, in order to cover the expenses necessary for the 
maintenance of worship and clergy, in conformity with the provi- 
sions of the Concordats concluded with the Holy See, it was entirely 
reasonable and just, that the properties belonging to said Church, 
and which were in the possession of the Government of Porto Rico, 
should be restored to the former; it being alleged that the Church 
had not lost the right of ownership to the said properties, by 
virtue of the cession made of the same to the United States 

52 by the Treaty of Paris, since, according to Article YIII of 
the aforesaid Treaty, the cession made by Spain if the 

properties which in conformity with law, belonged to the public do- 
main, and as such belonged to the Crown of Spain in this Island, 
should be understood, and was understood, as having been made 
without prejudice to the right of ownership belonging to civic or 
ecclesiastical bodies, or any other association having legal capacity to 
acquire and possess property in the territories ceded or renounced, 
or to private in(Hviduals, of whatsoever nationality such individuals 
might be, in which case was comprised the Catholic Church, whose 
legal capacity to acquire and possess property, was entirely unques- 
tionable. 

The properties which were the subject of the reclamation made by 
the Catholic Church, were described in the complaint, some being 
described individually, while in regard to the rest, reference was 
made to two certificates which were attached to said complaint, and 
one of which had been issued by the Hon. Commissioner of the In- 
terior W. II. ElHot, on the 8th of January, 1903, and the other by 
the Hon. Treasurer of Porto Rico, W. F. Willoughby, on the 24th 
of Fel)ruary of the same year, with reference to certain records of the 



ROMAN CATHOLIC APOS. CHURCH VS. PEOPLE OF PORTO RICO. 5 

extinct Treasury Department of this Island, relating to proceedings 
instituted in the year 1871, and which records comprised the prop- 
erties derived from the Religious Orders, which were considered as 
State-property, and were subject to the effects of the disamortiza- 
tions, according to the Royal Order of the 27th of July, 1865, for 
which reason, counsel for the Catholic Church, asked that the afore- 
said certificates be considered as a part of the complaint; but as the 
Counsel for the People of Porto Rico opposed tliis request, and de- 
manded that the representative of the Church present a bill 

53 of particulars, containing a statement and clescription of 
each and all of the said properties, counsel for the Catholic 

Church actually filed an itemized and concise statement, of all the 
properties claimed by the Church, w^hich statement, after having 
been admitted by this Court, was attached to the record of the case, 
by order of the Court, and forms a part of said record. 

The complaint of the Catholic Church has been attacked by The 
People of Porto Rico, for various reasons alleged by the same in its 
amended answer, which will be discussed later on. For the present, 
we shall limit ourselves to the examination of the historical facts 
relating to this interesting matter, in order to determine afterwards, 
w^hether the complaint of the Catholic Church is just or not. 

It is indeed a positive fact, and one wdiich appears with the great- 
est clearness from the evidence heard in this case, that in 1837 and 
1838, and many years prior to that time, there existed in the city of 
San Juan, two Religious Communities of Friars of Santo Domingo 
and San Francisco, the former of which resided in a convent which 
was publicly considered as their property, and which was called 
"the Convent of Santo Domingo," being situated in the northern 
part of this city, and which is precisely the building, in the upper 
story of which are located, at the present time, the offices of this 
Supreme Court, and those of the District Court, while the lower 
story contains, some Military dependencies; and the latter, that is, 
the Friars of San Francisco, resided in another Convent, which was 
called the Convent of San Francisco, and which is situated on a 
public square of the same name, in this city, being occupied at 
present, we understand, by the High School of San Juan. Both 
buildings have been described in the bill of particulars filed by coun- 
sel for the Catholic Church. 

54 Besides the aforesaid Convents, another, which the Friars 
of Santo Domingo possessed in ihw town of San German, 

and which was called ^Hhe convent of Santo Domingo de Porta 
Coeli," the said Religious Communities possessed a great many prop- 
erties which belonged to them, and which consisted in rural estates 
and dwelling-houses of no small value, and a great number of cap- 
itals upon which were imposed quitrents and taxes, that produced 
abundant revenues to the said Frairs, who used the same for their 
own maintenance, and the needs of the Divene Worship in the 
Churches pertaining to their respective Convents. 

After the Religious Communities in Spain, had been abolished, 
and after the State had taken possession of all their property, by 
virtue of the laws called ''Laws of Ecclesiastical Dis-amortization, 
the Communities of Friars of Santo Domingo, and of San Francisco, 
established in this Capital, had to suffer the same fate, in spite of the 



6 ROMAN CATHOLIC APOS. CHURCH VS. PEOPLE OF PORTO RICO. 

facts that, b}- the Law of the 29th of July 1837, the Spanish pos- 
sessions in America, had been excluded from the effects of the Dis- 
amortization, as must be inferred from the language of the said Law, 
on providing, in Section 1, "that all the Monasteries, Convents, Col- 
leges, Congregations, and other houses or establishments of persons 
of both sexes, teaching or professing religion were abolished in the 
Peninsula, the adjacent Islands and the possessions of Spain in 
Africa;" and as nothing was said of the Spanish possessions in 
America, that is, the Islands of Cuba and Porto Rico, it is clear that 
they must be held to have been excluded from the effects of the said 
law. In spite of this, the dis-amortization w^as carried into effect in 
the Islands of Cuba and Porto Rico with the same severity as. in the 
Peninsula, and the Communities of Friars of Santo Domingo and 
San Francisco, which existed in this island, were not only abolished, 
and all their property seized by the Government, but they 

55 were even ejected from their Convents, by military forces, as 
is stated by one of the witnesses introduced by the Catholic 

Church, a venerable old man of more tha^ eighty years of age, who 
mtnessed the said ejectment, when he was very young', and remem- 
bers the same very well. After the Government had taken possession 
of all the properties of the said Religious Communities, it alienated 
some of them, while those that were not alienated, remained, in its 
possession, the revenues and products of the same, being freely 
utilized by the Government. 

These events took place in the Peninsula, and in the Island of 
Porto Rico, during the year 1838, and this state of affairs continued 
for several years, until after the termination of the Carlist's War, 
which had so much influence on the measures taken by the Govern- 
ment against the Clergy, because the former believed the latter to be 
a partisan of the ''Infante" Don Carlos, who laid claim to the crown 
of Spain, and who was said to receive great assistance from the 
Religious Communities; and after the natural state of things had 
been re-established, the Spanish Legislature passed the Law of the 
8th of May, 1849, which was sanctioned by the Queen of Spain, 
Isabella II, by which law, the Government was authorized to enter 
into an agreement with the Holy See, for the purpose of settlino: the 
matters pending between the State and the Clergy, as well as all the 
questions pending between the two powers (the Church and the 
State), and the desired settlement w^as actually accomplished, by 
means of the famous Concordat of the 16th of March, 1851, which 
was concluded by the respective Commissioner of His Holiness, the 
Pope Pius the Ninth, who then filled the Holy See, and of 

56 her Majesty, the Queen of Spain Isabella the second, which 
concordat from that time, has become a part of the public law 

of Spain, and, by means of same, a great many questions which were 
pending between the Holy See and the Spanish Government, were 
actually settled, and of those questions, are the most important ones, 
for our purposes, those which refer to the ecclesiastical dis-amortiza- 
tion, and which, on account of their importance for the decision of 
the (juestions that are being examined in the present suit, are, tran- 
scribed below. The final paragraph of Section 35, which treated of 
the maintenance of the Religious Communities of Women, whose 



BOMAK CATHOLIC APOS. CHURCH VS. PEOPLE OF PORTO RICO. 7 

properties had also been seized by the Government, by virtue of the 
aforesaid laws of dis-amortization, reads as follows: 

"The properties which belong to the said Communities and whicli 
are in the possession of the Government, and have not been alienated, 
shall therefore, be restored, without delay, to the Communities re- 
ferred to and be delivered to the representatives ot the same, that is, 
to the Diocesan Prelates, in whose jurisdiction the Convents are situ- 
ated or were situated prior to the last vicis-situdes. But His Hohness, 
taking into consideration the present condition of these properties, 
and other particular circumstances, in order that a greater uni- 
formity may be attained in providing with the products of the same, 
for the expenses of worship and other general expenses, directs that 
the prelates, in the name of the Religious Communities, which are 
the owners of the properties referred to, proceed immediately and 
without delay, to the sale of said properties by means of public auc- 
tions, to be held in canonical form, and with the mtervention of a 
person to be appointed by the Government of Her Majesty The 
proceeds of these sales shall be invested m intransmissible 3% bonds: 
of the public debt, the capital and interest of which shall be dis- 
tributed among all the aforesaid Convents, m proportion to their 
needs and circumstances, in order to t rovide for the exrenses above 
mentioned, and for the payment of the pensions of the nuns, who 
mav be entitled to such pensions, without prejudice to the Govern- 
ment's sup^^ying as it has done up to the present time the amount 
that may be necessary for the full payment of the aforesaid pen- 
sions, until the death of the pensioners." ^ . , , ^i. .^ 
Section 38, in speaking of the funds, with which to cover the ex- 
penses of worship and clergy, makes the following provisions: 
57 ''The funds with which to provide for the maintenance ot 
Worshio and Clergy, shall be: i. .i. t « . 
1. The product of the properties restored to the Clergy, by the l^aw 

of April 3, 1845. . . rr ^ r. A 

2.^ The proceeds of the alms of the Holy Crusade. 

3 The 'proceeds of the rents rertaining to the offices and dignities 
of Commanders and Grand-Masters of the four Military Orders 
which are vacant or may become vacant {i. e. the offices of Com- 
manders and Grand-Masters). 1 IT . ^ .offl^ in 

4 A tax on the landed proi^erties, dwelling-houses and cattle m 
each District, taking into account the proceeds mentioned m para- 
era^^hs 1 2 and 3, and other revenues which m future, with the con- 
currence'of the Holv See, may be appropriated for that purpose.^ 

The Clerp-v shall' collect this tax, receivmo; the same m agricul- 
tural produce, in specie or in money, accorcUng to agreements pre- 
viouslv to be made bv it with the provinces with the towns with the 
parishW or with private persons; and in the cases where it is neces- 
sarv, the Clergy shall be assisted by the pu^ he authorities m the 
collection of tins tax, and for that purpose the means shall be used, 
which has been esta^^lished for the collection of taxes. 

Besides, there shall be restored to the Church immediately and 
without delav, all the ecclesiastical properties, which are not com- 
prised in the aforesaid law of 1845, and which may not yet have been 
alienated, including those remaining of the Rehgious Commumties 



8 ROMAN CATHOLIC APOS. CHURCH VS. PEOPLE OP PORTO RICO. 

of Friars. But in view of the present conditions of these different 
properties, and of the evident utility that will result to the Church, 
the Holy Father orders, that the capital derived from the sale of said 
properties, be immediately and without delay, invested in intrans- 
missible 3% bonds of the public debt, and that the form and rules 
established in Section 35, with reference to the sale of the properties 
of the nuns, be strictly observed. 

• All these properties shall be computed according to their exact 
value, after deduction has been made, of any charges encumbering 
the same, for the purposes of the provisions contained in this Sec- 
tion." 

Section 40 declares: 

''That all the aforesaid properties and revenues belong to the 
Church, as the property of the same, and that they shall be enjoyed 
and administered by the Clergy, in the name of the Church." 

Section 41 : 

''That the Church, besides shall have the right to acquire property, 
by means of any legitimate title, and that its ownership of all the 
properties which it possesses at the present time or may acquire in 
future, shall be solemnly respected." 

Section 42: 

''That in view of the utility which the Catholic Religion 
58 will derive from this agreement, the Holy Father at the re- 
quest of Her Catholic Majesty, and for the purpose of pro- 
moting the public tranquility, decrees and declares, that those, who 
during the past state of affairs may have bought ecclesiastical prop- 
erties, in the dominions of Spain, in accordance with the civil laws 
then in force, and are in possession of the same, and those who may 
have suc-eeded, or may hereafter succeed to the rights of said pur- 
chasers, shall at no time, and in no way, be molested, by His Holi- 
ness, nor by the Popes, his successors; on the Contrary, they as well 
as their assigns, shall safely and peacefull}^ enjoy the ownership of 
said properties, and the profits and proceeds of the same." 

And Section 45: 

*'That, by virtue of this Concordat, the laws, orders and decrees 
published up to the present time in any form and manner, in the 
dominions of Spain, shall le considered as having been re eaied, in 
so far as they are in conflict with said Concordat, and the latter shall 
be in force forever in the future, as the law of the land, in in the 
aforesaid dominions. And, therefore, both of the contracting parties, 
promise, for themselves and their successors, the faithful observance 
of all and each of Sections of which the Concordat is com-^osed. If 
in future any difficulty should arise, the Holy Father and Her Cath- 
olic Majesty will come to an understanding, in order to settle the 
same in an amical)le manner." 

Even more interesting than the provisions transcribed of the 
Concordat of the 16th of March, 1851, are those of the ncklitional 
agreement made ^\ith the Holy See by the Government of S:^ain, on 
the 25th of August, 1859, under the authority granted to it by the 
Law of the 4th of November of the same year, to conchuie and 
ratify a Convention vvith the Holy See, chiefly for the i^urpose of 
commuting the ecclesiastical properties, of whatever kind they might 
be, for intransmissible 3% bonds of the consoHdated public debt, 



ROMAN CATHOLIC APOS. CHURCH VS. PEOPLE OP" PORTO RICO. 9 

and to exchange the rest of the revenues estabUshed, for the mainte- 
nance of worship and clergy, for bonds of the same kind, if it should 
be convenient for the respective Dioceses, while the Church was to 
retain the right to acquire pro^ert}^, which right was stated in Sec- 
tion 41 of the Concordat, and the amount of the revenues wliich the 
Church might acquire in future, was not to be computed in the do- 
tation of the same. 

59 The principal provisions of the said Convention, that is, of 
the part which relates to the matter under consideration, are 

the following, which, on account of their great importance, are like- 
wise transcribed below. 

In the preamble of said Convention, it is stated that the Pope Pius 
IX, and Her Catholic Majesty, Isabella II, Queen of Spain, being 
desirous of providing, by mutual consent, for the final settlement of 
the dotation of worship and clergy, in the dominions of Her Ma- 
jesty, in consequence with the solemn Concordat of the 16th of 
March, 1851, had aDi^ointed their respective Plenipotentiaries, who 
after their credentials, containing their full powers, had been ex- 
changed, had made the following agreement: 

''Sect. 1. The Government of Her Catholic Majesty, having con- 
sidered the lamentable vicissitudes suffered by the ecclesiastical prop- 
erties at different times, and wishing perpetually to ensure to the 
Church, the peaceful possession of its properties and rights, and to 
prevent every motive for violating the solemn Concordat, made on 
the 16th of March, 1851, promises to the Holy See, that in future, 
no sale, commutation, or other kind of alienation, of the said prop- 
erties, shall be made Avithout the necessar)^ authorization from the 
Holy See itself." 

Sect. 2. Being desirous of carrying definitively into effect, in a 
sure permanent and indepede-t manner, the plan of dotation of wor- 
ship and clergy, prescribed in the said Concordat, the Holy See and 
the Government of Her Majesty agree to the following points: 

''Sect. 3. In the first place, the Government of Her Majesty again 
formally recognizes the free and full right of the Church, to acquire, 
retain and enjoy the usufruct of all kinds of property, and secu- 
rities, in the capacity of owner, and without any limitation or reser- 
vation, and, consequently, any dispositions contrary to this pact, 
especially the law of the 1st of May, 1855, in so far as it is in con- 
flict \nth the same, are hereby repealed. 

The properties, which the Church, by virtue of said right may in 
future acquire and possess, shall not be computed in the dotation 
which has been assigned to it in the Concordat." 

"Sect. 4. By virtue of the same right, the Government of Her 
Majesty, recognizes the Church, as the absolute owner of 

60 each and all of the properties that have been restored to it 
by the Concordat. But, having considered the deteriorated 

condition of the greater part of those properties, which have not yet 
been alienated, their difficult administration, and the various con- 
tradictory and inaccurate computations of the value of the same, 
wdth reference to the revenues they produce, all of which are circum- 
stances, which, up to the present time, have made the dotation of the 
Clergy uncertain and even incongruous, the Government of Her 
Majesty has proposed to the Holy See, a permutation, and according 



10 ROMAN CATHOLIC APOS. CHURCH VS. PEOPLE OF PORTO RICO. 

to this proposal the Bishops are given power to determine, with the 
concurrence of their Clergies, the price of the Church properties 
situated in their respective Dioceses, and the Government offers, in 
exchange for all of those properties, and the cession of the same to 
the State, as many intransmissible 3 % bonds of the consolidated pub- 
lic debt of Spain, as may be necessary to cover the total value of said 
properties." 

'^Sect. 5. The Holy See, being desirous that a sure safe and in- 
dependent dotation for worship and for the Clergy, be immediately 
carried into effect, after having heard the opinions of the Bishops of 
Spain, and recognizing in the present case, and in the conjuncture 
of all the circumstances, the best interest of the Church, has made 
no objection to the carrying into effect of the permutation, in the 
following manner. 

''Sect. 6. In each Diocese, all the properties enumerated in Sec- 
tions 31 and 33 of the Concordat of 1851, to wit: the orchards, 
gardens, palaces and other buildings, which at any place in the 
Diocese, are destined for the use and amusement of the Bishops, 
shall be excepted from the permutation, and shall remain in the pos- 
session of the Church, as the property of the same. Also the houses 
intended as residences for the parish-priest with the orchards and 
fields pertaining thereto, and which are known under the denomi- 
nation of Iglesiarios Mansos" and others shall be reserved for the 
Church. Besides, the Church shall retain as its property, the build- 
ings of the conciliar seminaries with their dependencies, and the 
libraries and houses of correction, or ecclesiastical prisons, and in 
general, all the buildings which at the present time are used for wor- 
ship, and those that are destined for the use of the regular Clergy, 
of both sexes, and for residence of the same, as well as all those 
buildings which in future may be destined for such purposes. 

None of the properties enumerated in this Section, shall be com- 
puted in the dotation prescribed for worship and clergy, in the 
Concordat. 

However, since the best interests of the Church, are the motive 
which induces the Holy See, to accept the aforesaid parmutation 
of values, if in some Diocese, the Bishop should be of the opinion 
that, on account of particulars circumstances, it is conveni ^nt for the 
Church to retain some property, which is situated in the said Diocese, 
such property may be excepted from the permutation, and the 
amount of the revenues derived from the same, shall be deducted 
from the dotation of the Clergy." 

Sect. 7. After the the Bishops have made the estimate of the 
properties, that are subject to the permutation, the Government 
shall immediately deliver to the same, intransmissible securi- 
61 ties or bonds, for the full value of the said properties, as weU 
as for the market price or value of those which have been 
alienated after the Concordat. After the delivery has been made, 
the Bishops, under proper authorization from the Apostolic See, 
shall make a formal cession to the State, of all the properties which, 
in accordance with this agreement, are subject to the permutation. 

"The bonds shall be debited to the Clergy, as an integral part of 
its dotation, and the respective Diocesan Prelates shall apply the 



EOMAN CATHOLIC APOS. GHUECH VS. PEOPLE OF PORTO RICO. ll 

revenues produced by the same to the payment of said dotation, in 
the manner prescribed by the Concordat." 

"Sect. 8. In view of the urgency of the needs of the Clergy, the 
Government of Her Majesty binds itself to pay every month the 
consolidated revenue due to each Diocese." 

% ''Sect. 9. In case that, by order of the temporal authority, the 
3% revenue of the public debt of the State should suffer any dimi- 
nution or reduction, the Government of Her Majesty binds itself 
from this moment, to give to the Church as many intransmissible 
bonds of the revenue which may be substituted for the 3 % revenue, 
as may be necessary entirely to cover the annual amount of the reve- 
nue, to be established, in favor of the Church so that said revenue 
in no eventuality and at no time, shall be diminished or reduced." 

"Sect. 12. The Bishops, in conformity with the provisions of 
Section 35 of the Concordat, shall distribute among the Convents 
of Nuns, existiuQ: in their respective Dioceses, the intransmissible 
bonds to which they may be entitled, either on account of those cf 
their properties which are now to be ceded to the State, or on ac- 
count of those that have been sold by virtue of the aforesaid Con- 
cordat or the Law of the 1st of May, 1855. The Revenues derived 
from said bonds, shall be debited to the said Convents as a part of 
their dotation." 

"Sect. 13. The provisions of the Concordat in regard to the sup- 
plement to be given, by the State, for the payment of the pensions 
of reli2:ious persons of both sexes, as well as all the provisions of 
Sections 35 and 36 of said Concordat, regarding the maintenance 
of the relieious houses and congregations which may be established 
in the Peninsula, and concerning the repair of the cluirches and other 
buildins^s destined for worship shall remain in full force and effect. 
The state binds itself besides, to build at its expense the churches that 
may be considered necessary, to grant pensions to the few existing 
friars and lay-brothers who have been ejected from their Convents, 
and to provide for the dotation of the professional nuns, charlains 
sextons,' and worship in the churches of nuns in each Diocese." 

"Sect. 20. In view of the Advantages which result to the Church 
from this new agreement, His Holiness in consideration of the re- 
peated request of Her Catholic Majesty, has resolved to extend, and 
does hereby extend, the gracious exemption from all encumbrances, 
granted by Section 42 of the Concordat, to all the eccbsiastical prop- 
erties, which have been alienated, in consequence of the aforesaid 

law of the 1st of May 1855." . 
62 Sect. 22. The Exchange of the ratifications of this agree- 

ment, shall take place within the term of three months or 
within a shorter time, if possible." 

This agreement was signed in Rome by the respective plenipoten- 
tiaries, on the 25th of August, 1859, and ratified afterwards by the 
hi«:h contracting parties, on the 7th and 24th of November of the 
same year; and was ordered to be observed and complied with in all 
its parts, by the law of the 4th of April, 1860, which literally copied, 
reads as follows: 

"Isabella II, bv the Grace of God, and the Constitution of the 
Spanish Monarchy, Queen of Spain— know all men by these pres- 



12 ROMAN CATHOIilC APOS. CHURCH VS. PEOPLE OF PORTO RICO. 

ents: That, by virtue of the authority granted to my Government, 
by the law of the 4th of November, 1859, for the purpose of making 
and ratifying an agreement with the Holy See, the principal object 
of which agreement was to be the commutation of ecclesiastical 
properties of any kind whatever, for intransmissible 3% bonds of 
the consolidated public debt, and to exchange the rest of the dota-.» 
tion. of worship and clergy, for bonds of the same kind, preserving to 
the Church, the right to acquire property, which right was granted 
to it in the last Concordat; 

I order that the agreement made with the Holy See on the 25th 
of August, and which w^as ratified on the 7th and 24th of November 
of last year, be published and observed as the Law of the Land; the 
literal context of said agreement being as follows: 

Then follow the provisions of the said agreement, which we know 
already. 

Now, then, in view of the stipulations, contained, in the Concordat 
of the 16th of March, 1851, and in the agreement made in addition 
to the same, which we have read just now, nobody can doubt the 
perfect right of ownership of the Roman Apostolic Catholic Church, 
to the properties seized from the Religious Communities, by virtue 
of the laws entitled ''Laws of Ecclesiastical Dis-amortization," which 
properties were in the possession of the Government, at the time 
when the first of said Concordat was published, and which remxained 
in its possession after the additional agreement of 1859, pending 
their permutation in the new form concerted with the Holy See, at 

the proposal of the Spanish Government. 
63 The said permutation was carried into effect in all or most 

of the Dioceses of Sppin, in compliance with, the orders issued 
by the Government, for the accomplishment of the same, among 
which orders was the Royal Decree of the 21st of August, 1860, 
which contained the rules to be observed for the punctual execution 
or accomplishment of the said permutation; but nothing of the 
kind happened in the Islands of Cuba and Porto Rico, where the 
provisions of the concordat in regard to the restitution, to the 
Catholic Church, of the properties seized from the Religious Commu- 
nities, or the permutation of the same, in the manner concerted 
with the Holy See, or any other manner, were never carried into 
effect notwithstanding the definite instructions, which in regard to 
this matter, had been given by the Queen of Spain, Isabella II, to 
the higher Authorities of the Island of Cuba, in Her Royal Letters 
Patent of the 26th of November, 1852; and although the latter were 
issued only for the aforesaid, Island, the statements made in the 
said supreme disposition, or decree, in regard to some of the ques- 
tions under consideration in this suit, are, by reason of their analogy 
perfectly applicable to the present case. 

In fact, in the preamble of the said Royal Letters Patent, the 
Queen of Spain, Isabella II, says the following: 

''Since it it one of my first duties, as well as the most glorious 
gem in my Crown, to deserve the title of honor of Catholic, which I 
have inherited from my August and Pious Ancestors, it has been my 
greatest care, as soon as, by divine mercy, peace was reestablished, in 
the interior of the Kingdom, to renew, by the last Concordat the re- 
lations ^\'ith the Holy See, which had been temporarily interrupted 
by the Civil War, as I am ccmvinced, that the Religious belief is the 
first and indispensable basis for the prosperity of the nations, with- 



ROMAN CATHOLIC APOS. CHURCH VS. PEOPLE OF PORTO RICO. 13 

out which behef, no fraternity and christian charity can exist, and 
no habit can be acquired, to show the submission and respect which 
are due to the Authorities. 

64 Prompted by these same sentiments, and convinced that 
the rapid increase of the population and wealth of your Island, 

during the last 25 years, made necessary a proportional increase of 
the number of ministers of worship, and of their dotations, in order 
that none of my loyal subjects in said Island, might lack the nec- 
essary spiritual nourishment, I ordered to collect such data as I 
deemed convenient; and in consequence of the same, I directed that 
the Royal Letters Patent be issued, which under date of the 30th of 
September last, I communicated to you, relating to the dotation and 
arrangement, to be made for worship and the clergy, of the parishes 
of the Dioceses of your Island. But, although by these measures the 
habitual and most urgent needs of a catholic people can be satisfied, 
— as I confidently expect they can, they alone would not suffice, to 
supply the defir^ciency which, in this respect, must have been caused 
by the diminution and quasi-extinction of the Religious Orders, 
which was carried into effect by the higher Authorities, of your Island 
in the past year 1851, during my minority, and without proper 
authorization from the Government, which refraining at the time 
from giving its full approval, ordered, in conformity with the report 
made by the Advisory Board of Colonial Affairs, that all the papers 
and documents relating to this transcendental matter, be gathered 
together for the purpose of settling the same. 

And afterwards, in the fifth provision of the said Royal Letters 
Patent, the Queen, Isabella II, expresses herself as follows: 

' 'Although the last Concordat made with the Holy See, refers 
mostly to the personnel circumscription and management of the 
churches of the Peninsula, it extends nevertheless, to all my domin- 
ions^ so far as the act- of government are concerned; as is expressly 
stated in several of the first Sections, of the same, especially in sec- 
tion 42, that is, the acts of government in all matters relating to 
the alienation of the ecclesiastical properties; and as Section 38 of 
the aforesaid Concordat, provides that all the properties which have 
not been alienated, including the remaining properties of the Reli- 
gious Communities of Friars, shall be restored to the Church without 
delay, you will proceed, in fulfillment of this solemn promise, in 
concert with the Superintendent of my Royal Treasury, and with 
the intervention of the respective Diocesan Prelates, to make up in- 
ventories of all the quitrents, and landed properties and dwelling 
houses, which have belonged to the Religious Communities, and 
have not been alienated, but in-asmuch as the conversion of said 
properties into intransmissil^le bonds of the Pul lie debt, which con- 
version is ordered by the aforesaid. Section, is inapplicable in these 
countries, and as I desire to supply this provision in the most ade- 
quate manner, it is my will that, after the terniination of the in- 
ventory, the Superintendent issue, in my Royal Name, a formal ob- 
ligation in favor of the Church, and of the respective Prelates, in 
whose Dioceses the properties are situated as representatives of the 
same, (i. e. of the Church), to apply to the needs of the 

65 Church, and, with reference, to the maintenance and support 
of the Religious Institutes referred to in these Royal I^etters 

Patent since the dotation of worship and the secular Clergy of the 
Island, has been secured by those which I have been pleased to issue 



14 KOMAN CATHOLIC APOS. CHURCH VS. PEOPLE OF PORTO RICO. 

on the 30th of September last, all the proceeds of the quitrents sale 
(venta a censo), of the aforesaid properties, which sale shall ] e 
effected in accordance with the instructions which I reserve to my- 
self, to give in A^ew of the report which you in concert with the 
said Superintendent and Reverend Prelates, will sul mit to me, in 
regard to this matter." 

The statements made ly the Queen of Spain, in these Royal 
Letters Patent, convince, therefore, without any dou^ t, not only 
of the fact that the provisions of the Concordats, in so far as they 
referred to the recognition, in favor of the Catholic Church of the 
exclusive ownership of the properties seized from the Regular Clergy, 
and to the permutation of said properties concerted with the Holy 
See, were in force in these foreign dominions or Colonies (of Spain),, 
but also of the fact that the a^ olishment of the religious Communi- 
ties, and the consequent seizure of their properties, was carried into 
efect by the higher Authorities of 1 oth Island-, without any au- 
tiiorization from The Government, which, at that time, refrained 
f om giving its approval; and (in saying this) the Queen of Spain 
alJuded without doui t, to the unusual fact that those severe measures 
ao^ainst the Religious Communities then existing in Cu a and Porto 
Rico, had teen carried into effect contrary to the definite provision 
of the Law of the 9th of July, 1837, which limited the effect of the 
Ecclesiastical Dis-amortization, to the Peninsula, the adjacent isl- 
ands, and the Spanish possessions in Africa, and which said nothing 
of the Spanish possessions in America, that is, the Islands of Cuba 
and Porto Eico, which, consequently, should have been considered 
as excluded from the said Royal resolution, especially as the latter, 

being of a later date than the orders previously issued in 
66 regard to the same matter, must be held to have repealed the 

previous orders, or at least, to have modified the same, in so 
far as they were opposed or contrary to it : 

In the Island of Porto Eico, the Government also provided for 
the needs of the Catholic Church, by means of the Eoyal Letters 
Patent of the 20th of April, 1858, relating to the settlement (of 
the Church property question) and the dotation of worship and 
clergy, the defrayment of whose expenses, the Government took 
upon itself, in accordance with the agreement contained in the 
concordat made with the Holy See; and although nothing was done 
in regard to the restitution of the properties, of the regular clergy 
to the Catholic Church, and the permutation of the same, and 
although, on the contrary, a great many orders were issued 1 y the 
Government, to carry into effect the sale of said properties, for 
account of the State, said orders cannot deprive the Catholic Church 
of its ownership of said properties, for the reason that they have 
not been issued with the consent and acquiescence of said Church 
which was indispensable in order that they might leave without 
effect, the Concordats made with the Holy See, in representation 
of the Catholic Church, precisely with reference to one of the most 
important points of the same, that is the recognition by the Govern- 
ment of Spain, of the ow^nership or right of property of the Church 
with regard to the properties of the Religious Communities, which, 
at the time when the Concordat was made, were in the possession 
of the Government, and the solemn obligation contracted by the 
latter, to permute or exchange said properties for bonds of the public 



ROMAN CATHOLIC APOS. CHURCH VS. PEOPLE OF PORTO RICO. 15 

debt of Spain, in order to apply the revenues derived from the same, 
to the needs of the Church; without which requisite, the Govern- 
ment could not acquire the ownership of those properties, and dis- 
pose of them as the les^itimate owner of the same. 

It is, therefore, evident and there can be no doubt whatever, that 
the properties derived from the Religious Communities of 

67 Frairs of San Francisco, and Santo Domingo, of which 
properties the Government took possession, and which were 

in its possession at the time when the change of Sovereignty oc- 
curred in this Island, and were comprised in the cession which was 
made by Spain to the United States of all public real estate then ex- 
isting in Porto Rico, belonging to the Roman Catholic Church, 
which has not lost the ownership of said properties, since the same 
is protected by the Treaty of Paris, which, by its Section VIII, 
preserved in full force all vested rights, as we have stated before. 

After the ownership by the Roman Apostolic Catholic Cluirch, 
of the Properties derived from the Communities of Frairs of San 
Francisco and Santo Domingo, which existed in this Island, and 
were abolished, and which properties were in the possession^ of the 
Government of this Island, at the time when the latter was ceded 
by Spain to the United States, has thus been established in a general 
way, let us now examine the exceptions taken by the representatives 
of Th^ People of Porto Rico, to the complaint filed by the Catholic 
Church. 

TLe first exception is relative to the title of ownership of the 
Church with regard to the properties, which are the subject of the 
reclamation refeired to; for, as it is an indispensable principle of 
the Law of Procedure (of the old as well as of the new) that, in 
order that an action for recovery of title, to which class the action 
brought by the complainant belongs, may be successfid, it is indis- 
pensable that the plaintiff prove his ownership of the thing he 
claims, the action entered in this case cannot be successful and must 
be dismissed, if the Catholic Church fails to comply with the afore- 
said requisite and does not present its title or ownership of the 
properties, which are the subject of the complaint. 

68 But this exception of The People of Porto Rico, is com- 
pletely inefficacious in the present case; the Catholic Church 

bases its ownership on the stipulations contained in the Concordats 
made by the Government of Spain with the Holy See, on the Kth 
of March, 1851, and in the Convention, wliich in addition to the 
aforesaid Concordat, was made by the same high contracting parties, 
on the 25th of August, 1859, according to which stipulations, the 
Government of Spain, which had taken possession of all the prop- 
'Crties of the Religious Communities, and had retained in its pos- 
session some of the same, which it had not alienated, solemnly recog- 
nized the ownership of said properties in favor of the Catlolic 
Church, and bound itself, to restore the same immediately and with- 
out further delay, to the said Church, although on account of the 
special circumstances and condition of those properties, and other 
considerations which were borne in mind by the contracting parties, 
the latter agreed that they should be permuted or exchan<jed for 
intransmissible 3% bonds of the consolidated public debt of Spain 
on the basis of the value of said properties, which w^as to be fixed by 
the Bishops, in concert with their Clergy, in their respective Dioceses, 



16 ROMAN CATHOLIC APOS. CHURCH VS. PEOPLE OF PORTO RICO. 

in order to endow the Church with a revenue, with which it might 
be able to provide for the needs of cathoUc worship. 

The title of ownership of the Church cannot be more evident: it 
is constituted by the Concordats, made by the Holy See, with the 
Crown of Spain, which Concordats had the character of real interna- 
tional covenants, and which, as diplomatic documents, contain all 
the formal requisites that are necessary for its authenticity, 

69 and form part of the Spanish public law, contained in the 
Legislative Collection of Spain. 

This first exception taken by The People of Porto Rico, to the 
complaint of the Catholic Church must therefore be overruled. 

The same is to be said in regard to the personal capacity of the 
Bishop of Porto Rico, to represent the Catholic Church in this liti- 
gation. The Bishops represent the Church in their respective Dio- 
ceses, according to the canons of the Catholic Church, and this repre- 
sentation was specially recognized by the Concordats in everything 
referring to the delivery of the said properties to the Bishops, and the 
permutation of the same, in the form agreed to by both Powers. 

In regard to the titles of ownerships of the Friars of San Fran- 
cisco and Santo Domingo, with reference to the properties, which are 
the subject of the reclamation made in this complaint, which is 
another of the exceptions taken by counsel for The People of Porto 
Rico, to said complaint, we are of the opinion that this point is com- 
pletely foreign to the question under consideration, and that, there- 
fore, it must not be discussed. 

The question in this case, is not to clear the titles of ownership of 
the Friars, of Santo Domingo and San Francisco, with regard to the 
properties, claimed in the complaint. The question in the present 
case, is to ascertain whether or not the properties, the delivery of 
which is demanded by the Catholic Church, from the People of 
Porto Rico, form part of those which the Government seized from the 
said Religious Communities, at the time when it took possession of 
the properties of the same, in the year 1838, by virtue of the Laws 
relating to the Ecclesiastical Disamortization, the ownership 

70 of which was recognized b}'' the Concordats, in favor of the 
Catholic Church, and which properties the Spanish Govern- 
ment bound itself, to restore in the manner agreed upon, without 
conditions or reservations of any kind, and prescinding absolutely, 
from the titles of ownership, which the Friars of San Francisco and 
Santo Domingo might have concerning the same, and in regard to 
which titles no question was raised either before or after the Con- 
cordat. That is the only matter to be discussed in this case. All the 
other objections made by the representative of the People of Porto 
Rico, to the effect that the Catholic Church has not proved or cleared^ 
in these proceedings, the titles of ownership of the Friars, with re- 
gard to the properties which are the subject of the complaint, and 
that the Convents, the delivery of which is demanded by the Church, 
far from being the property of the said Religious Communities, 
were built by the Government at its expense, and later on ceded to 
the Friars, in order, that they might fix their residence in the same — 
in regard to which point, we may remark by the way The People of 
Porto Rico has not even attempted to present any proofs, all this is 
superfluous, and can be no subject of discussion in this litigation. 1 



* KOMAN CATHOLIC APOS. CHURCH VS. PEOPLE OF PORTO RICO. 17 

The only question under consideration in the present case, is, as 
we have said alreadv, to determine whether or not the properties 
claimed in the complaint, belons^ to those which were seized by the 
Government, from the Friars, of San Francisco and Santo Domingo, 
by reason of the abohshment of said Religious Communities; and 
this point, which we might call the point of identification of the 
thing claimed, is so clear that there can be no doubt whatever in 
regard to the same. In the first place, because it has been 
71 definitely recognized by the People of Porto Rico, in the 
writing containing its amended answer, and in the second 
place because it appears perfectly clear from the documents presented 
by both parties in these proceedings. 

In fact, there is in the record, as we have said before, the list of 
the properties which are the subject of the reclamation made by the 
Catholic Church, and if we compare the same with the inventories, 
made up by the Commissions, which intervened in the seizure of the 
properties of said Religious Communities, when the Government took 
possession of the same, in the year 1838, and with the certified cop- 
ies issued by the Commissioner of the Interior, and the Treasurer 
of Porto Rico, which were attached to the complaint and with the 
certified copy which was later on presented by the attorney of the 
Cathohc Church, at the oral hearing, and which had also been issued 
by the Treasurer, it will be found that they agree exactly with the 
only difference that the lots or parcels of land occupied by the 
Ballaja Barracks, the Insane Asylum and the Market Place, do not 
figure in the inventories under these names, but form part of the 
parcels of land which were granted to the Friars of Santo Domingo, 
by the Conqueror, and first populator of this Island, Juan Ponce de 
Leon, to the North of this City, in order that they might establish 
themselves, and found their Convent, which parcels of land do figure 
in the inventories of the properties seized from the said Religious 
Community; and as to the quitrents, it will be found that only 
those have been proven to exist, in the possession of the People of 
Porto Rico, which are stated in the certified copy issued by the 
Treasurer, and presented by counsel for the Catholic Church, in the 

act of the oral hearing, and which together amount to the sum of 

dollars, but not the other quitrents, set forth in the state- 
72 ment of the properties which are claimed in the complaint, 
doubtless because they have been redeemed, during the period 
which has elapsed from the year 1838, when the Government toofe: 
possession of the same, up to the present time. The record contains 
copies of the aforesaid inventories, which were made up by the Com- 
missioner who intervened in the seizure of the properties of the 
abolished Religious Communities, which copies were presented as 
evidence by the representatives of the Catholic Church, and no ob- 
I jections have been made by the representatives of the opposing party, 
; in regard to the exactness of the same ; surely in the inventory made 
! of the documents, which were seized from the Friars of Santo Dot 
\ mingo, there appears the title of ownership of the parcels of land- 
that were granted or ceded to the said Community, by the Con- 
queror, Juan Ponce de Leon, which document seerns to have been 
mislaid; but the existence of the same cannot be doubted, as reference 
is made to it, not only in the inventory alluded to, but also in other 
68713—09 2 , 



18 ROMAN CATHOLIC APOS. CHURCH VS. PEOPLE OF PORTO RICO. 

papers, which are on file in the offices of the Government, and which 
nave been presented at the trial, as evidence, by counsel for the 
Catholic Church. 

In regard to this point, that is, the identity of the properties 
claimed by the Catholic Church, as part of those seized from the 
Communities of Friars of Santo Domingo and San Francisco, at 
the time when the Government took possession of all their properties, 
there can be no doubt either. It is a very clear point, on which 
the official documents included in the record, throw a vivid light. 

Leaving, therefore, this point aside, let us now fix our attention 
on the prescription, which is another of the exceptions taken by The 
People of Porto Eico, to the complaint. 

The representatives of the defendant, alleges, in regard to this 
point, that, since more than 60 years, have elapsed from the 

73 year 1838, when the seizure of the properties of the Friars, 
by the Government of Porto Rico, took place, until the date 

of the complaint, during which long course of time no reclamation 
was made by the Catholic Church, in order to obtain the possession 
of its properties, said Church has no longer a cause of action, to 
claim said properties, inasmuch as more than 30 years have elapsed 
from the aforesaid date up to the present time, which period, (i. e. 
SO years) is the term fixed by Section 1864 of the Civil Code in 
force, for the prescription of an action for the recovery of real 
estate. 

But, aside from the fact that the term of prescription was inter- 
rupted by the Concordats, made by the Spanish Government with 
the Holy See, in 1851, and 1859, in which Concordats the Govern- 
ment of Spain recognized that the ownership of those properties 
belonged to the Catholic Church, and bo^^nd itself solemnly, to 
restore, said properties to the same, in the manner agreed upon; and 
althoT'gh the term of prescription afterwards commenced to r n 
anew, it is a fact that, inasm^^ch as the Ch^^rch has not been lera'ly 
able to demand from the Government, the restitution of those prop- 
erties, until the year 1888 when the change of Sovereignty took 
place in this Island, the term of prescription must, at all events, be 
reckoned from that date ; and since only some six years have elapsed 
from that time until the date of the filing of the complaint, it is 
clear that the exception relating to the prescription of the real action 
referred to, is not well taken in the present case, and that it cannot 
serve to prevent the success of the complaint. 

According to Section 1870 of the Civil Code in force, which is a 
literal reproduction of Section 1969 of the old Code, 'Hhe time for the 
prescription of all kinds of actions, when there is no special pro- 
vision to the contrary, shall be counted from the day on which they 
could have been instituted;" and we have seen already by 

74 the review which we have made of the provisions contained 
in the Concordats made with the Holy See, that although by 

Sections 35 and 38 of the Concordat, made in the year 1851, it was 
determined that the Government should restore immediately and 
without delay to the Catholic Church, the properties of the Clergy, 
including those which still remained of the properties that had beei 
seized from the Religious Commun^ities of both sexes, in order that 
they might be sold by the Bishops at public auction, for the purpose 
of investing the proceeds of the sale, in bonds of the public debt of 



KOMAN CATHOLIC APOS. CHUECK VS. PEOPLE OF PORTO RICO. 19 

Spain said stipulation was afterwards essentially modified by the 
additional Convention made with the Holy See, on the 2oth of 
August 1859, according to which the properties of the Catholic 
Church existing in the possession 6i the Government, were to be per- 
muted or exchanged for 3% bonds of the public debt of Spain, in 
the manner established by the Sections 4 and 5 of the Convention 
referred to; and it is evident that, inasmuch as the Church was 
bound to the carrying into effect of the permutation agreed upon, 
it had no action to demand from the Government, the delivery of 
its property. But then came the war between Spain and the United 
States, which was terminated by the Treaty of Paris, by virtue of 
which, Spain, ceded this Island to the United States of America, 
with all the buildings, piers, barracks, fortifications, establishments, 
public roads and other real propert}^, which according to law, be- 
longed to the public domain, and as such, pertained to the Crown of 
Spain, and among the real properties so ceded by Spain were those 
derived from the extinct Religious Com.munities, which were in the 
possession of the Government, and the p rmutation of which in the 
form concerted with the Holy See, was still pending; and as this fact 
implied, on the part of the Spanish Government, a manifest viola- 
tion of the agreement, wdiich, in addition to the Concordat 

75 of the year 1851, had been made with the Holy See, on the 
25th of August, 1859, inasmuch as the said Government could 

not acquire the ownership of the real properties referred to, without 
paying the value of the same, by their permutation or exchange 
for bonds of the public debt of Spain, or in some other equivahnt 
manner, in order to cede, as it did, the said properties to the Govern- 
ment of the United Stat'^s, it is cl ar thnt from that time, the Catholic 
Church was perfectly able to demand the delivery of those proper- 
ties — the ownership of which had been solemnly recognized in its 
favor by the Government of Spain, in the Concordats made with the 
Holy See, in the year 1851 and 1859, and which it had not lost in 
spite of the fact that said properties had been ceded to the United 
States of America, — by entering an action for recovery of real prop- 
erty, in order to recover the real properties referred to, from the 
party possessing the same, that is. The People of Porto Rico, which 
possesses and enjoys said properties at the present time; in accord- 
ance with the well-known legal maxim ^'res uhicumque sit pro dominio 
suo clamat;'^ and, as from the time when the Catholic Church was 
able to bring a valid action for the recovery of real property, until 
the date when the present complaint ^\as brought, no more than 6 
years have elapsed, it is evident that, in the present case, the term 
fixed by law, for entering an action for the recovery of real estate, 
which term is 30 years has not elapsed, and tliat, from this point of 
view, the exception taken by The People of Porto Rico, on account 
of the prescription alleged in its amended answer to the complaint, 
is not well founded. That is considering the prescription as a means 
for extinguishing the action of owners! jp of a property and as a 
manner of acquiring the ownership of a propert}^ it is not applicable 
to this case either; for, in order to- acquire, by prescription, 

76 the ownership of real property, it is necessary, according to 
Section 1842 of the Civil Code in force, which agrees with 

Section 1941 of the Old Code, — even in a case where the prescription 
is based on a possession of over thirty years — that the property, be- 



20 ROMAN CATHOLIC APOS. CHURCH VS. PEOPLE OF PORTO RICO. 

sides having been possessed for the period required by law, be pos- 
sessed by the holder, on the pretence of being the owner of the same; 
and the Spanish Government knew perfectly well that the properties 
referred to, belonged to the Church, and that it retained the same in 
its possession only on account of the fact that the permutation of 
said properties, in the form concerted with the Holy See, or in some 
other adequate form, was still pending, and that only after having 
paid to the Church the value of the same and after the Bishops, with the 
authorization of the Pope, had ceded the properties to the Government, 
the latter would have acquired the ownership of the same, according 
to the provisions of Section of the said addition agreement of the 25th 
of August 1859. 

In regard to this point, we have nothing to object to the statement, 
made by the representative of The People of Porto Rico. The objec- 
tion is true ; but we must state that the evidence heard at the trial of 
this case, shows that the aforesaid Convent of Santo Domingo, with 
the lands adjacent to the same, as well as the land on which the 
Barracks of Ballaja are located, belong to the Roman Apostolic 
Catholic Church, and that only for a technical reason, wdiich is 
strengthened, by the regard which we have for the resolution of the 
President of the United States, we do not pronounce the same judge- 
ment in regard to the said properties, is that they be returned, to the 
Catholic Church together with the other properties which are the 
subject of the reclamation made in this suit. 

We hold, therefore, that with this sole exception, the Cath- 
77 olic Church must be reinstated in the possession of all the 
other properties belonging to the same, which are unduly 
possessed and enjoyed by The People of Porto Rico, and that a 
judgment to that effect should be rendered in this suit, by this 
Supreme Court, so as to compensate for the spoliation, which was 
committed by the Government of Spain against the Roman Apostolic 
Catholic Church in this Island, by ceding and transferring to the 
Government of the United States, the properties belonging to said 
Church, and referred to in this complaint, without having previously 
acquired said properties in the form agreed to, in the treaties made 
with the Holy See, in accordance with the principles of mterna- 
tional law, which have been proclaimed once more by the Treaty 
of Paris, in its Section 8; and the application of these principles in 
the present case, is not obstructed by the doctrine laid down by the 
Supreme Court, of the United States, in the case of Cessanat's. United 
States, according to Vvhich doctrme ^^ although it is the duty of a 
nation which receives the cession of a territory, to respect all the 
property rights, such as they were recognized by the nation niakmg 
the cession, it is by no means the duty of the former, to correct 
the errors, which the nation, by which the cession was made, may have 
committed against an individual before the cession took place except in 
case the spoliation of error of the nation, which has made the cession, 
has been committed so shortly before the cession was made, that 
the individual, who has been deprived of his property, has had no 
time to apply to the Courts of the ceding nation, m order to obtain 
a remedy; for, in that case, it might be that the duty referred to, 
were incumbent upon the nation which has made the cession;" 



EOMAN CATHOLIC APOS. CHUKCH VS. PEOPLE OF PORTO RICO. 21 

and this is precisely the case that has been submitted to us for con- 
sideration, for the spoliation committed against the Catholic Church, 
is so recent that it was consum-ated, precisely at the time when 
the American Government took possession of this Island, 

78 by virtue of the cession made of the same, by the Govern- 
ment of Spain, so that it has not been possible for the Catholic 

Church to obtain the remedy otherwise, than by means of the present 
complaint; and consequently, this case is precisely comprised in the 
exception referred to by the Supreme Court of the United States, 
in the litigation above mentioned. 

Lastly it remains for us to occupy ourselves with another of the 
objections made by The People of Porto Rico, against the complaint 
of the Catholic Church, and that is the o!:>jection relating to the 
Convent of Santo Domingo and the lands annexed thereto, and to 
the parcel of land, on which the Ballaja-Barracks are situated, in 
regard to which particulars, the defendant alleges in his answer to 
the complaint, that, inasmuch as those properties are not in the pos- 
session of the People of Porto Rico, on account of having Veen 
reserved for military purpose, by the President of the United States, 
in the exercise of the autho-ity granted to him to that effect, by a 
law of Congress, nothing definite can be decided in this suit with 
regard to those properties, as the Government of the United States 
has not been a party to the same. 

In regard to this point, we have nothing to object to the statement 
made by representatives of the People of Porto Rico. The objection 
of the defendant is true, and it will therefore, be necessary to elimi- 
nate the said properties from the reclamation made by the Catholic 
Church. \ 

As for the rest, we are of the opinion that the action should be 
sustained, and that therefore, the People of Porto Rico should be 
adjudged to restore to the Roman Apostolic Catholic Church in this 
Island, as properties, which belonged to those that were seized by 
the Government of the same, from the Religious Communities of 
Friars of Santo Domingo and San Francisco which were 

79 abolished by virtue of the laws enacted in Spain, with regard 
to the Ecclesiastical dis-amortization the buildings known 

by the name of ^Xonvent of San Francisco." which is situated on 
the public Square of the same name, in this City according to the 
description, which the expert, Jos^ Canals, has made of the same, 
in his certificate, which was ratified by him under oath, in the act 
of the trial; the parcels of land which are occupied by the Market- 
place and the adjacent streets, and those that are occupied by the 
Insane Asylum, also according to the description which has been 
made of the same by the said expert Jose Canals; further the quit- 
rents enjoyed by The People of Porto Rico, which also belong to the 
abolished Communities, and which according to the certified copy 
issued by the Treasurer of Porto Rico, on the 14th of January, 1903, 
and which is included in the record, as a part of the evidence pro- 
duced by counsel for the Catholic Church, amount to $19,764.23 
(dollars); and, besides, to the payment of an indemnity or com- 
pensation for the income or revenues that have been produced, 
or should have been produced, by the aforesaid properties, from the 



22 ROMAN CATHOLIC APOS. CHURCH VS. PEOPLE OF PORTO RICv>. 

18th of October 1898, until the juds:ment be executed in accordance 
with the valuation made by the said expert Jose Canals; as well as 
to the payment of an indemnity for the capitals of the quitr^nts that 
have been redeemed, and the revenues which have been paid into 
the Treasury of Porto Rico, since the same date, the amount of 
which it has not been possible to ascertain, for the reason that the 
certified copies requested with regard to both these items, and which 
were demanded by the Court at the request of counsel for the Cath- 
olic Church have not been issued by the Treasurer, and besides to 
the payment of the legal interest on the aforesaid amounts, at the 
rate of six per cent, per annum, from the date of the filing 

80 of the complaint, until the payment be made, in accordance 
with Section 1075, taken in connection with Section 1060 

of the new Civil Code, which agree with Sections 1100 and 1108 
of the old Code; and the action, in so far as the Convent of Santo 
Domingo and the lands annexed thereto, and the parcel of land 
on which the Barracks of Ballaja are located, are concerned, be 
dismissed, without special imposition of the costs. 

And before definitely closing this opinion, we wilb state here, on 
account of the intimate relation which it has to the case under con- 
sideration, the very interesting precedent, that the reclamations of 
the Catholic Church in the Island of Cuba, which were identical 
with those made by the Illustrious Diocesan Prelare of the same 
Church in this Island have obtained, from the American Govern- 
ment, which was established in said Island, during the period of the 
military occupation of the same, after the war with Spain, the most 
satisfactory solution. The Catholic Church has obtained the resti- 
tution of all its properties, by virtue of an agreement made with the 
Government of said Island, by which agreement the latter reserves 
to itself the right to acquire said properties, for a price fixed and 
agreed to by both parties within a period of five 3^ears; and it was 
further agreed that until the purchase was carried into effect, the 
Government should pay to the Church an annual rent of five per 
cent., on the value of those properties, which would not be retained 
by the Government, for the purpose of using the same, and also 
an indemnity, compensaTiting the Church for the loss of the revenues 
and profits, which it had failed to derive from said properties, dur- 
ing the time elapsed from the date of the occupation, until the date 
on which the agreement was signed; and besides, that the 

81 Government should pay, in cash, the capitals of the quit- 
rents, under deduction of a reasonable percentage from the 

amount of the same. 

We take pleasure in stating this precedent which is a publicly 
known fact, and which speaks so much in favor of the justice of the 
reclamations made by the Catholic Church in the present litigation 
which reclamations as we have said before, are identical with those 
made by the same Church in the Island of Cuba. 



EOMAN CATHOLIC APUiS. CliUKC LL VS. PEOPLE OF POKTO KICO. 23 

Dissenting Opinion of Air. Justice MacLeary. 

Filed 10th Januar}-, 1907. 

This is a case of original jurisdiction filed in this Court under a 
special act of the Legislature of Porto Rico, passed on the 10th of 
March, 1904, and entitled ''An Act, to confer original jurisdiction 
on the Su reme Court of Porto Rico for the trial and adjudication of 
certain property claimed by the Roman Catholic Church in Porto 
Rico." 

Ever since the American occupation of the island of Porto Rico 
claims have been made by the Roman Catholic Church, or by some 
of its members in its behalf, to certain lands, buildings and other 
property, situate in Porto Rico and in the possession of the Ameri- 
can Government. Efforts were continually being made to induced 
the Government, both here and at Washington, to recognize these 
claims. After many plans had been discussed and rejected finally 
the Insular Legislature, on the 10th of March, 1904, 'massed a statute 
conferring on the Supreme Court of Porto Rico original jurisdiction 
for the trial and adjudication of all questions between the Church 
and the Peo le affecting property rights, whether real, personal or 
mixed, claimed b}^ either party. Power was conferred on this Court, 
by said act, to issue rrocess for witnesses, and to receive and hear 
testimony; and direction was given to use the same ^^rocedure, as 
near as might be, as that }<rescribed for the District Courts in civil 
cases, full power being conferred on the court to enter any 
132 and all orders and decrees that might be necessary to a final 
and full adjudication of all the claims of either ])arty to the 
proceedings, authorizing the issue of all writs or rrocess necessary 
to enforce the jurisdiction therein conferred upon this court. 

The attorney general of Porto Rico was by the same act authorized 
to accept service, for the People of Porto Rico, of any citation, sum- 
mons or other process issued in the proceedings; and was instructed 
to commence an action in behalf of the Insular Government unless 
the Church should do so within three months after the passage of 
the act; that is to say on or before the 10th of June, 1904. 

This court was further directed, after the issues had been fully 
submitted upon the law and the facts and after hearing the argu- 
ments of the respective parties or their counsel, to enter a final judg- 
ment and decree, fully determining the rights of either or both of 
the parties, and vesting the title to the subject matter of the con- 
troversy, or any part thereof, in such party or parties as the court 
might deem entitled thereto. An appeal was reserved to each of the 
parties to the Supreme Court of the United States as in other cases. 

This act was approved and took effect on the 10th of March, 1904. 
See Session Acts of 1904, pp. 134 and 135. 

MTiatever original jurisdiction this court has in the case under 
consideration is derived from this statute, and from the organic act 
of Porto Rico. 

In accordance with this law the Roman Catholic Bishop of Porto 
Rico through his attorney, Juan Ilernadez Lopez, Esq., filed a 
complaint in this court on the 6th day of June, 1904, asking that 
the People of Porto Rico be adjudged to restore to the Roman 



24 ROMAX CATHOLIC APOS. CHURCH VS. PEOPLE OF PORTO RICO. 

Catholic Apostolic Church the properties which the defendant held 
in possession in the city of San Juan and in the town of San Ger- 
man, and which formerly belonged to the communities of frairs of 
the orders of Santo Domingo and San Francisco, which orders had 
been abolished and whose property the Spanish Government 

133 had confiscated in the year 1838, by virtue of the Disamor- 
tization Laws. 

To this complaint the defendant promptly filed a general demurrer 
and special exceptions, which were based on the new code of civil 
procedure, which took effect on the 1st of July, 1904. These were 
fully argued by counsel on both sides on 24th, 25th, and 26th of 
October, 1904, and taken under advisement until the 10th June, 
t905, and then decided. But inasmuch as the complaint had been 
filed under the old Spanish law, after the new Code of Civil Pro- 
cedure had been passed but before it took effect, it was held to be 
sufficient that the complaint should comply with the former law, 
and that the requirements of the new and existing law should not 
be applied to it, and the demurrer and exceptions of the defendant 
were accordingly overruled. It was also held that the proceedings 
in the case should conform to the old law up to the 1st of July, 1904, 
and after that to the new code of civil procedure, which took effect 
on that day. This was strictly in accordance with the well estab- 
lished principles that the court must apply the statute which is in 
force at the date of the proceeding under consideration; and that 
although an act has been already passed by the legislature it cannot 
be enforced by the courts prior to the date on which by its terms 
it takes effect. It is very seriously doubted that the court was cor- 
rect in overruling the demurrer mterposed by the People of Porto 
Rico to the complaint filed herein under the old Code of Civil Pro- 
cedure; on account of the complaint showing on its face that the 
Church has not now and never had any title to the lands sued for, 
and that the statutes of limitation have long since run in favor of 
the defendant, and the former owners under wliom possession and 
title is claimed. But it is not desirable to elaborate this point here 
since the writer of this opinion did not expressly dissent from the 
ruling at the time it was made ; accepting the assurance of the ponente 
that under the old code of civil procedure the complaint was amply 
sufficient. 

134 The defendant's answer was finally filed on 6th July, 1905, 
and it was demurred to on the 12th of August; which demurrer 

was overruled on 27th of October of the same year. A bill of par- 
ticulars had in the mean time, on motion of the defendant, been re- 
quired of the plaintiff, and was filed on the 1st of December, 1905. 
On 15th December the defendant, by leave duly granted, filed an 
amended answer; and the case was set down for trial. Finally on 
the 15th of January, 1906, the trial was begun and concluded on 
the 19th of the same month. 

The case was taken under advisement b}^ the court and some inter- 
locutory orders were made from time to time, and it was not until 
the 15th of December, 1906, that the Jud.«:ment was finally rendered 
in favor of the plaintiff, the Roman Catholic Apostolic Church, by 
a divided court: two of the Justices, MacLeary and Wolf, dissenting 
from the opinion of the majority. 

There is some question raised in regard to the personality of the 
plaintifl* in this action. It is a little difficult to determine whether 



ROMAN CATHOLIC APOS. CHURCH VS. PEOPLE OF PORTO RICO. 25 

the attorney drawing the complaint desired the Bishop or the Church, 
as a corporation, to be considered the plaintiff. It certainly was 
not intended, by the pleader, that the Bishop should sue as a 
trustee or representative of the rights of the extinguished com- 
munities of friars; since no allegations whatever indicating such a 
purpose are included in the complaint. 

The relation between the Franciscan Friars and the Dominican 
Friars on the one part and the Roman Catholic Apostolic Church 
on the other are not explained either in the pleadings or in the 
evidence. There is some evidence to show that, at one time, one 
or the other of these brotherhoods had possession of certain property 
described in the complaint; but from all that appears in the record 
that possession was independent of the Roman Catholic Church, and 
had no connection with that institution. It does not clearly appear 
which of them if either claimed to own or to be in possession 

135 of the censos, or ground rents or annuities, sued for in this 
complaint; or to whom such censos may have belonged. 

This case, at least so far as the lands and buildings are concerned, 
is simply an action of ejectment between the Roman Catholic 
Church and the People of Porto Rico, and is, or should be, tried 
in this court, as a court of original jurisdiction, the same as any 
other ejectment case would be tried between Smith and Brown, or 
any two ordinary natural persons. 

Of course the United States Government was not made a party to 
this action, as no jurisdiction in such a matter could be conferred 
on this court, by the Insular Legislature. However several large 
portions of the real estate involved in this proceeding are in pos- 
session of the General Government and never have passed into pos- 
session of the People of Porto Rico. This is the case in regard to 
the Santo Domingo Barracks and the lands appurtenant thereto 
and to the block of land on which the Ballaja Barracks are situated. 
The plaintiff could not possibly recover these buildings and lands 
in this action and the court very properly ^^ eliminated" them from 
the claims made by the Catholic Church. It affords me pleasure to 
remark in passing that, though I cannot agree to the judgment 
herein rendered in favor of the plaintiif for many reasons, some of 
which are expressed herein, and others omitted for the sake of 
brevity, in regard to at least one point my views are in accord with 
those expressed by a majority of the Court. I concur with the 
ponente herein in the proposition that the plaintiiT cannot recover in 
this case the Santo Domingo Barracks or the Ballaja Barracks, or 
any of those properties which were reserved in the proclamation of 
the President as they belonged to the United States, and if the 
Roman Catholic Church has any claim upon them that claim must 
be presented to the National Government, and not to the Insular 
Government nor any of its courts. It is only in regard to the other 
property sued for and adjudged to the plaintiif that there is any 
dissent among the Justices of this court. 

136 The People of Porto Rico, the corj)orate body whicli is 
. made the Defendant in this case, was created by the organic 

act, an act of Congress passed on the 12th of April 1900, and taking 
effect on the 1st day of Mav thereafter. See U. S. Statutes at large, 
Vol. 31 Chapter 191, pp. 77-86. 

By section 7 of that act certain inhabitants of this island, ''together 
with such citizens of the United States as may reside in Porto Rico, 



26 ROMAN CATHOLIC APOS. CHURCH VS. PEOPLE OF PORTO RICO. 

shall constitute a 1 ody politic under the name of the People of Porto 
Rico, with Governmental powers as hereinafter conferred and with 
power to sue and 1 e sued as such." The defendant in this case had 
no existence, as a legal entity, prior to the taking effect of the organic 
act, on the 1st of May 1900. Of course not I eing in existence it could 
not have possession of any of the properties claimed 1 y the plaintiff 
prior to that time. And in point of fact it did not gain possession 
of them, at least of the lands sued for until long afterwards, to wit 
on the 30th day of June 1903. An act of the congress of the United 
States was necessary to invest the People of Porto Rico with the title 
and possession of the lands, buildings and other property involved 
in this proceeding. This act was passed on the 1st day of July 1902. 
See U. S. Statutes at Large, Vol. 32 Chapter 1383, pp. 731-732. 

The judgment herein is against the defendant not only for the 
capital sum 1 ut for the interest, rents and profits on the property 
recovered from the 18tli day of Octo^ er 1898; I eing the date on 
which the Spanish Military authorities surrendered the island to the 
Americans and sailed away for the II erian Peninsula. It seems to 
me that this is an arbitrary date, and, except the fact that it is as 
early a one as could possi; ly be fixed, no reason is apparent for 
choosing it as a beginning point from which to calculate interest 
and collect rents. 

By the Treaty of Paris, Article VIII, which was ratified on the 
11th of April 1899, this property passed, with all other property of 
that nature, from the Government of Spain to the Govern- 
137 ment of the United States; and by the Act of Congress of 
the 1st of July 1902 and the proclamation of the President 
of 30th June 1903, (See 32 United States Statutes at Large, Chapter 
1383, and 33 United States Statutes at Large, p. 2315) a portion of 
it passed to the People of Porto Rico, and a portion was reserved by 
the President of the United States under his said proclamation for 
the use of the Military and Naval Departments of the Nation. 

Certainly in no event can any judgment be rendered against the 
defendant for any claim on account of interest accruing prior to the 
1st of May 1900, the date on which the People of Porto Rico became 
a body politic under the Organic Act passed by Congress on the 12th 
of April previous. Nor indeed could any claim be properly made 
or legally sustained against the defendant for damages of any de- 
scription in regard to the property, arising prior to the date of the 
President's Proclamation, the 30th of June 1903. (33 U. S. Statutes 
at Large p. 2315). 

During the progress of the trial in this case a large volume of 
evidence was introduced, including many Spanish laws wliich were 
read from tlie books, or referred to by counsel and considered by 
the court to have been read. It is provided by the statutes of Porto 
Rico, which are only declaratoiy in some particulars of the common 
law on that subject, that the court may take judicial notice of the 
following facts. Among others, of whatever is established by laws, 
of the laws of nature, the measure of time, and the geographical 
divisions and political history of the world; and the court is au- 
thorized in these cases to quote and consult the adequate books or 
documents. See section 36 of An Act to Regulate the Introduction 
of Evidence in Civil Proceedings approved 9th March 1905. Ses- 
sion Acts of 1905, page 76. 



ROMAN CATHOLIC APOS. CHURCH VS. PEOPLE OF PORTO RICO. 27 

The provisions of the Laws of Spain in force and in existence in 

this isknd, prior to the 11th April 1899, when the treaty of cession 

was ratified, fall under the class of - whatever is established 

138 by law," and can be judicially noticed by the courts ot l^orto 

We are^not authorized by this statute, or any othex law known to 
me, to take judicial notice of the authority of the Diocesan Prelate, 
or Bishop of Porto Rico, to represent the Roman Catholic Lhurcii, 
in this or any other htigation, nor are we authorized to ascertain by 
any other means than evidence properly introduced on the tri-d, the 
relations sustained by the Franciscan Friars and the Dommican 
Friars to the Roman CathoKc Church. It may be that they were 
orders or societies, existing ^^ithin the body of the Church and con- 
trolled by the Bishop and other ecclesiastical authorities, but it may 
be that thev, Uke the Jesuits, and perhaps other Roman Cathohc 
Societies, held their own lands and property entirely independent of 
the Church, and that neither the Pope nor the Bishop had any con- 
trol over them whatever. It is said that the Bishops represent the 
church in their respective dioceses by virtue of the canons ot tne 
Cathohc Church; if so those canons must be proven like the by-laws 
of any other society; and judicial notice cannot be taken ot them 
by this court. Nothing in the record shows the Purport of these 
canons nor the authority of the Bishop to represent the Church. Mor 
has the Rev. Pedro Maria Berrios, who figures m the judgment, 
shown any authority whatever to appear or be recognized as Apos- 
toUc Adniinistrator of the Cathohc Diocese of Porto Rico as he is 
therein styled. If the Church had any right to represent these 
monastic orders, or any authority to bring a suit m t^^i/^ ^^^^^^^ ^^ 
inherited from them any property or any claim P.gamst the Crovern- 
ment, it was incumbent upon the plaintiff m this case to show that 
fact by evidence; the Court certainly could not presume it. bearcli 
has been made in vain through the record of this case for any evi- 
dence bearing upon this point; and the Findings of Fact, approved 
by a majority of the court, while taking a very wide range into the 
field of history and fancy, is silent on this important and vital 

139 ^The plaintiff relies in this case to prove his title, on the 
concordat entered into by the Pope and the Queen ot Spam 
on the 25th of August 1859. An examination of that document 
will show that it is therein clearly recognized that the Grovernment 
of Spain was at that time in possession of the properties which had 
been secularized and taken from the possession of the Friars, among 
(which are those included in tliis suit. It is unnecessary here to 
Viuote at large from these concordats which can readily be retei red 
K and many sections thereof beihg set out m full m the l^mdmgs 
{of Fact hereinafter quoted. The Crown recogmzed a claim on the 
/part of the Church to the said properties and agreed m lieu ot sur- 
Irendering the same to the Church, to retain them and P'^//^^ J. ?^ 
in three per cent, bonds, or cert ficates of the public ;\^^; ^ ^^^^^ 
should not be transmissible but should be held by t)^^/ 1^"^,^^\ 
the interest devoted to the maintenance of worslup and to the sup- 
port ofTe clergj-. No change whatever was made '" the poss.>ssion 
of the secularized property, and the agreement '^•".t^'^^^^" / ' .^.'Xd 
and the Crown amounted to a settlement of a dispute which had 



28 ROMAX CATHOLIC APOS. CHURCH VS. PEOPLE OF PORTO RICO. 

been in existence for more than twenty one years; and if either party 
failed to carry out the contract, then and there made, neither the 
title nor the possession to the lands involved was thereby affected. If 
the Church did not receive the bonds, or the proceeds thereof, to 
which it was entitled under the concordat a claim could and should 
have been made against the Crow^n of Spain for what was justly due ; 
but it could not be said that the Church could therefore claim the 
property itself from the Crown, much less from a purchaser who 
had acquired the same in good faith, long after the concordat had 
been made and ratified. 

In fact, by section 7 of the Concordat, it is provided that after 

the Bishops had made the estimate, etc., the bonds should be issued 

for the full value of the properties ''as well as for the market 

140 price or value of those which have been alienated after the 
concordat," clearly recognizing the right of the Church to 

continue the alienation and sale of the properties as it had contin- 
ually done for twenty-one years previously. 

Supposing the King of Spain is guilty of a breach of the contract, 
does that give the Church or the Friars, or the claimants of these 
lands, whoever they may be, the right to consider the contract 
broken, and follow the property into the hands of subsequent pur- 
chasers, and innocent purchasers at that? By no means. When 
the Crown of Spain attempted to convey, and did convey to the Gov- 
ernment of the United States the properties included in this suit, the 
latter government had a right to presume that the Spanish Crown 
had a perfect title to the property conveyed, and should be considered 
in the same light as any other subsequent, innocent purchaser for 
value. But the ChTirch in this case is not only attempting to follow 
the property from the possession of the Crowm of Spain into that of 
the United States of America, but from that of the latter government 
into the possession of the People of Porto Rico, the defendants in 
this case, and presumably into the hands of any individuals who may 
have purchased portions of the same from time to time since title 
was acquired under the President's proclamation. 

This view of the matter is the inevitable result and the logical 
sequence of the position taken by the plaintiff in this case and up- 
held by a majority of this court. A mere statement of it in plain 
language seems to me to be sufficient to show that it will not stand 
the test of legal analysis. Whether or not the Chi rch or the Bishop, 
or any person acting in their behalf, ever received the bonds or the 
certificates of debt from the Spanish Government in accordance with 
the concordats heretofore referred to does not appear from the 
record in this case. But it is a fact judicially known to this Court 
from the public laws of the Kingdom of Spain and the 

141 Province of Porto Rico that annual appropriations were 
made for the support of the Clergy and public worship and 

for pensions to the dispossessed friars of one hundred dollars per 
annum, altogether amounting during some of the years just prior 
to the American Occupation, and the cession made under the Treaty 
of Paris, to nearly two hundred thousand dollars. This large and 
liberal appropriation, made from year to 3^ear by the Spanish Gov- 
ernment and the provincial Government of Porto Rico, was prob- 
ably accepted in lieu of the bonds or certificates of the public debt 



ROMAN CATHOLIC APOS. CHURCH VS. PEOPLE OF PORTO RICC». 29 

which could have been claimed under the concordats of the jioman 
CathoHc ApostoKc Church or by the Communities of friars or other 
ecclesiastical authorities, and was doubtless regarded as a fair settle- 
ment of any claims supposed to exist against the Government on 
account of the secularization of the monasteries and other property 
belondno- to these brotherhoods. Indeed, it has been argued that 
inasmuch as under the change of government the intimate rela- 
tions existing between the Church and the State have been dissolved 
and the support of the Clergy and the Catholic worship has been dis- 
continued that some provision should be made to satisfy the losses 
thereby incurred by the Church and its Clergy. This argument is 
altogether fallacious and has no basis m sound reason or authority. 
At the time of the cession made by the Spanish Crown of these prop- 
erties to the American Government it was well known that there 
was no union of any kind between the Church and the State m the 
United States of America, and that neither our National Government, 
nor any State or territorial government existing or possible under our 
Constitution, could appropriate pubHc moneys for the benetit ot 
anv Church or to support any form of worship whatever it the 
Church or the Clergy had suffered any damage, by the events herein 
alluded to the Pope or the Bishop must look to His Cathohc Majesty 
Alfonso the XIII, King of Spain, to right their wrongs or to redress 
their grievances. Certainly such an argument as this furnishes no 
basis whatever to sustain any right or title to the property 
142 involved in this suit on behalf of the plaintiff and against the 

defendant herein. p t .. x- x.- \. 

In this case the defenadnt pleads the Statute of hmitations, which 
in this island in real actions requires the lapse of thirty years, to bar 
the action. Civil Code P. K. Article 1864. The friars were, as shown 
by the evidence of three aged witnesses beyond a doubt, dispossessed 
of the convents, by the Mihtary forces of the Spamsli Government, 
in the vear 1838; and ever since that time it is claimed by the 
defendant that the Government, whether Spanish, American, or in- 
sular, has been in adverse, peaceable and umnterrupted possession 

of all the property claimed. ^ -. ^fi - i .^.i 

The evidence clearly shows that all the property itself involved 
herein has been in such possession of the Government of Spam and 
the United States Government and the Government of the People ot 
Porto Rico, since the year 1838, and no suit of any kind was ever 
instituted for its recovery against the Government or any person 
so far as appears from the record, m any court whatever I efore the 
6th of June 1904, when this action was brought,^ W^^^^^^^ 
thirty years statute, or some other article of the Civil Code of Porto 
Ricof preserving a shorter term, applies to the c.n.o. or q^i^ent^ 
claimefl herein, need not, in this opimon be discussed, ^e^-tamly 
if the claim of the plaintifl to these lands has been barred by the 
statute of limitations, the claim to the censos has ^^^f^ „^ ^^«/:;\™f^ 
Unless there was some event which took the case out of the statute 
of limitations, the term of thirty years was comp ete m 1868; and 
it had run twice over before the American occupation, or conquest, 
on the 18th of October 1898. What event happened m the mean- 
time ? 



30 KOMAN CATHOLIC APOS. CHURCH VS. PEOPLE OF PORTO RICO. 

It is claimed that the concordats made between the Pope and the 
Queen of Spain were events of this nature and interrupted the run- 
ning of tiie statutes. Let us see. 

After the Communities of Friars had been abohshed, and after 
the vSpanish Government had taken possession of all their 

143 monasteries and other property, ] y virtue of the '^Laws of Ec- 
clesiastical Disamortization/' the Friars of Santo Domingo, 

and of San Francisco, which had long since 1 een esta' lished in San 
Juan, Porto Eico, had of course to conform to the same laws. The 
secularization was carried into effect in the island of Porto Rico, 
with the same strictness as in the Peninsula, and the Communities 
of Friars of Santo Domingo and San Francisco, which had previously 
existed in this island, were not only abolished, and all their property 
seized ] y the Government, 1 ut they were ejected from their mon- 
asteries, } y military force, as is stated by one of the witnesses intro- 
duced 1 y the Roman Catholic Church, a man of more than eighty 
years of age, who testified that he had witnessed the said ej ce- 
ment when he was very young, and remem' ers the same very well. 
After the Spanish Government had taken possession of all the prop- 
erties of the said religious communities, it alienated some of them, 
wliile those that were not sold, remained in its possession, the reve- 
nues and products of the same, being freely utilized by the Govern- 
ment. Much eloquence has been expended in denouncing the laws 
under which spoliation of the Church property was accomplished. 
Vith the policy, the justice or the necessity of those laws we ha^ e 
nothing to do. It is a historical fact that such laws have been 
passed not only in Spain but in Mexico, in England, Austria, Ger- 
many, France and other European countries and they were deemed 
necessary, right and proper at the time. If the title passed under tl:e 
secularization laws that is all that concerns us at present. On this 
point there can be no doubt. 

These events, that is to say the enforcement of the secularizatim 
laws took place in the Island of Porto Pico, during the year 1838, 
and this state of affairs resulting therefrom continued for seversl 
years, until long after the termination of the Carlist w^ar. Later 
the Spanish Congress passed the act of the 8th of May, 1849, which 
was sanctioned by the Queen of Spain, Isabella II, by which law, 
the Queen was authorized to enter into an agreement with the Holy 
See, for the purpose of settling the matters pending between 

144 the crown and the clergy, as well as all the questions pending 
between the Church and the State, and the desired settlement 

was accomplished by means of the famous Concordat on the ICth of 
March, 1851. The final paragraph of section 35, which treats of the 
maintainence of the j eligious Communities of \ 'omen, w^hose prop- 
erties had also been seized by the Government by virtue of the afore- 
said laws of disamortization, provides for the retention of tl eir 
landed property by the government and the permutation of the sauie 
at a fair value into certificates of the public d(^bt bearing three per 
cent, annual interest and that the proceeds thereof should be dis- 
tributed by the several bishops among the convents according to their 
needs. 

Section 38 makes provision for the maintenance of worship and 
the clergy in which the very first item is ' ' the product of the prop- 
erties which had been restored to the clergy" by former concordats; 
and which by the way had never been actually restored. Further 



KOMAN CATHOLIC APOS. CHURCH VS. PEOPLE OF PORTO RICO. 31 

provision was made in this same section for the permutation of the 
properties of the friars into like three per cent, bonds of tlie puldic 
debt for the benefit of the monks whose property had been secidar- 
ized. Other particulars were settlod by this concordat which it is 
unnecessary to mention in this connection. There was also an ad- 
ditional agreement made with the Holy See by the Government of 
Spain, on the 25th of August, 1859, under the authority granted to 
it by the Law of the 4th of November previous, to conclude and 
ratify a Convention with the Holy See, chiefly for the purpose of 
commuting the ecclesiastical properties, of whatever kind they might 
be, for intransmissible three per cent, bonds of the consolidated 
public debt, and to exchange the rest of the revenues established for 
the maintenance of worship and clergy, for bonds of the same kind, 
if it should be convenient for the respective dioceses, while the 
Church was to retain the right to acquire propert}', wd:iich right was 
stated in section 41 of the Concordat, and the amount of the 

145 revenues which the Church might acquire in future, was not 
to be computed in the dotation of the same. It is unneces- 
sary in this connection to set forth at length the whole of this 
l?n^thy document. 

This agreement was signed in Rome by the respective plenipo- 
t-^ntiaries, on the 25th of August, 1859, and ratified aft'^rwards by 
the high contracting parties, on the 7th and 24th of November of 
the same year; and ten years later was again confirmed and was 
ordered to be observed and complied with in all its parts by a royal 
decree made on the 4th of April, 1869. 

It is claimed by the Roman Catholic Church that the Concordat 
of 1859 especially is the basis of its title to the property in contro- 
versy. If carefully examined it will be seen that no title is given the 
plaintiff by this concordat to any property whatever except the non- 
transferable bonds of the Spanish Government, and certain palaces, 
orchards, gardens and other property, not covering those included 
in this action; and more than all that nothing in any of these con- 
cordats prevents the Church or the Pope or his prelates from making 
claim against the crown for any property unjustly withheld from 
them. 

Then we see that these celebrated contracts had no such effect as 
to interrupt or prevent the running of the statutes of limitations. 
Nor is any law of Spain called to our attention which would prevent 
the Church or the brotherhoods from bringing suits against the King 
or the Government of Spain to enforce their claims upon these 
lands if any they had. But not even a petition to the Crown is pre- 
sented much less is a suit brought in any court whatever. From all 
that is shown the church had been satisfied in some other way for 
the loss of the property of which the friars had been deprived. Tliis 
was doubtless by the large annual appropriations made for the sup- 
port of the clergy by the Government of Spain as well as by the 
provincial government of Porto Rico. 

The statute of limitations, as is shown by the record herein, has 
clearly run in favor of the defendant in tliis case, and that 

146 statute is properl}^ pleaded by the defendant and must be 
considered by the court. It would be useless to say, if it were 

the fact, that the Church, from time to time, made clamis against 
the Government and endeavored to have them recognized by the 
Kjng of Spain, or by the Cortes. Nothing short of a suit brought 



32 ROMAK CATHOLIC APC>S. CLiUiiCii \\S. PEOPLE OF PORTO RICO. 

in a court of justice would stop the running of the statute of Umita- 
tions, (article 1874 Civil Code), and nothing in the nature of law 
or fact is shown which would have prevented the Church, the Pope, 
the bishops, or the friars, or whoever might claim these properties, 
from instituting a suit against the Government in the proper court 
having jurisdiction of such matters. Administrative suits against 
the Government were frequently brought under the Spanish system; 
and they were governed by peculiar rules of procedure apphcable to 
them alone. 

In considering the right, if such right existed, of the plaintiff in 
this case to follow the land which it claims from the Spanish Gov- 
ernment into the hands of the United States, and further into those 
of the People of Porto Rico, the principles of law enunciated by the 
Supreme Court of the United States in the year 1897, may well be 
invoked. That Court in the case of Cessna vs. the United States 
(169 U. S. 186) uses the following pertinent language: 

' ' In this respect the action taken was in harmony with the general 
rule of international law. It is the duty of a nation receiving a ces- 
sion of territory to respect all rights of property as those rights w^ere 
recognized by the nation making the cession, but it is no part of its 
duty to right the wrongs which the grantor nation may have hereto- 
fore committed upon every individual. There may be an exception 
w^hen the dispossession and wTong of the grantor nation were so 
recently before the cession that the individual may not have had 
time to appeal to the courts or authorities of that nation for redress. 
In such a case perhaps the duty will rest upon the grantee nation, 
but such possible exception has no application to the present case 
and in no manner abridges the general rule that among the burdens 
assumed by the nation receiving the cession is not the obligation to 
right wrongs which have for many years theretofore been persisted 
in by the grantor nation. Because Mexico had more than twenty 
years before the cession forcibly taken from Doctor Heath land that 

was rightfully his and given part or all of it to other persons 
147 it does not follow that when the United States accepted the 

cession they came into the obligations to do that which 
Mexico had failed to do, place Dr. Heath in possession and restore 
to him the land of which he had been thus wTongfully deprived. 
Such action if taken might well expose this Government to just 
claims for compensation in behalf of the subsequent grantees of 
Mexico, who apparently took no personal part in the wrongs done to 
Heath. Doctor Heath may have had a claim against Mexico for 
those wrongs, but he failed to prosecute liis claim in the way pre- 
scribed, and he cannot now make his failure to pursue such pre- 
scribed w^ay a reason for enforcing a title which that nation had re- 
fused to recognize. So long as Mexico repudiated his claim to this 
tract his only recourse was direct appeal or through the intervention 
of this government to seek compensation for the property of which 
he had been deprived. \V hen this government accepted the cession 
of the territory it did not thereby assume an obligation to satisfy 
any pecuniary demands which he as an individual may have had 
against the Mexican Government. In other words, it took that ter- 
ritory bound to respect all rights of property wliich the Mexican 
government respected, but under no obligation to right the wrongs 
which that government had theretofore committed." 



EOMAN CATHOLIC APOS. CHURCH VS. PEOPLE OF PORTO RICO. 33 

It cannot be said that the Church in the present case had no time 
to appeal to the courts or authorities of the Spanish Nation for re- 
dress. The wrongs suffered, if the coinphiint is correct, were of long 
standing, having occurred more than sixty years prior to the cession 
of the Island of Porto Kico to the United States, and to the transfer 
of the property claimed from the defendant by the Spanish Govern- 
ment to the United States Government. 

This Government by accepting the cession of the territory of 
Porto Rico did not assume an obligation to satisfy any pecuniary 
demands which ecclesiastical or other corporations or individuals 
within that island had against the Spanish Government. The United 
States Government, and under it the Government of Porto Rico, suc- 
ceeded to the rights of the Spanish Government in that island, bound 
to respect all rights of property wliich the Spanish Government re- 
spected, but under no obligation whatever to right the wrongs, if 
any, which that government had committed. 

It clearly appears that these correct principles of International 
La^v, applied to the case of Doctor Heath ten years ago, are 

148 equally applicable to the case of the People of Porto Rico now 
and here. 

The attorney for the plaintiff sought to bring to the attention of 
this court the action of the Military Government of Cuba, during 
the administration thereof by Major General Leonard Wood of the 
United States Arm}^, as a precedent to be followed in the decision of 
this case. That incident has no value as a precedent or an authority 
in this court; for in the first place it was not based on the decision 
of a court, but of a board of arbitrators; and in the second place the 
facts of the two ca.ses are entirely different. By the Treaty of Paris 
the King of Spain cedes the Government lands in Porto Rico to the 
United States and merely relinquished the title to those in Cuba. 
There is quite a difference in the terms used and it was thereby left 
for the Government in Cuba to make the best settlement it could 
with the Church. But it did not relinquish possession to an inch of 
land, it merely settled a vexed question by the payment of a large 
money bonus. This Congress can do today if it is thought just or 
politic ; but this court has no power to arbitrate or settle vexed ques- 
tions but only to try this case and render judgment in accordance 
with the law and the facts. 

If there were no other reason for dissenting from the judgment 
rendered in this case an all sufficient one is the lack of evidence to 
support it. An examination of the Finding of Facts, especially the 
third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth subdivisions thereof, 
made a part of the record herein, shows this inherent and funda- 
mental defect. 

It is unnecessary to encumber this opinion with a literal copy of 
these paragraphs, which can be found in the record, and will afford 
a complete understanding of the claims of the plaintiff, and which 
embody all of the evidence in support of the plaintiff's case which 
was introduced on the trial, and many observations, inferences and 
arguments which have no proper place in the evidence or the 

149 Findings of Fact. It is needless to say more than merely to 
recur again to the principal reason which the writer has for 

dissenting from the jud2:ment rendered. 

The burden of proof is on the plaintiff to make out its case in this 
court by proper pleadings and sufficient evidence. In other words 

68713—09 3 



34 ROMAN CATHOLIC APOS. CHURCH VS. PEOPLE OF PORTO RICO. 

this plaintiif , like John Doe or Richard Roe, must recover upon the 
strength of its own title and not upon the weakness of the defend- 
ant's claim. The defendant can rely alone on its possession in the 
absence of title shown by the plaintiff. This simple elementary 
proposition needs no authorities to support it; but in order to show 
that in other cases it has been recog-nized as binding in this island 
two cases decided by this Court will be cited. They are Bianchi vs. 
Afiasco 2 P. R. Rep. 484, and Monvino vs. Carreras, 2 P. R. Rep. 
581. Unless the plaintiff shows to the court by proper evidence that 
the property claimed belongs to it, the defendant must recover at 
least the costs of suit. The plaintiff in this case has not shown any 
title whatever to the lands or buildings in controversy, nor to the 
censos, quitrents or annuities and other property of that description. 

There is no title of any kind shown, emanating from the sover- 
eignty of the soil or from the Insular Authorities, fi'om the time of 
Ponce de Leon down to the American occupation, to the friars or 
any one else. It is said that there was a title issued to one of the 
brotherhoods by Ponce de Leon to some indefinite property, and it 
is surmised that it has probably been lost. But there is no proof in 
the record, nor mention in the landings, either of the existence of 
such a title, or the loss of the document which was evidence of the 
same. Both of these supposed facts are based on either guesswork 
or vague tradition. The concordats do not confer title on anyone; 
and indeed do not touch the title except to confirm it, if that were 
necessary, in the crown of Spain. They also provide for a compen- 
sation, supposed to be adequate, in the issuance of bonds, equal in 
amount to the value of the property, which had been secularized by 
the Government, and remained unsold. No vendor's lien or 
150 other incumbrance is claimed or acknowledged in the con- 
cordats in favor of the Church upon the lands claimed, and 
if the Spanish Government has failed to compl}^ with the contract 
claimed to be set out in the concordats, the Church or the Iriars 
must look to the crown of Spain for rehef , and not try to follow the 
lands into the hands of subsequent, innocent purchasers. 

According to the views which are held and expressed above the 
judgment herein should have been rendered in favor of the defendant, 
The People of Porto Rico. 

(Endorsed:) File No. 20,817. Supreme Court U. S. October 
Term, 1907. Term No. 414. The People of Porto Rico, App'ts, vs. 
The Roman Catholic Apostolic Church. Stipulation of counsel in 
relation to dissenting opinion in Supreme Court of Porto Rico & copy 
of said opinion. Piled Nov. 15th, 1907. 



Exhibit A. 



CONVENTION BETWEEN PIUS IX AND ISABELLA II, QUEEN OF SPAIN, 1851. 

In the name of the Most Holy and Undivided Trinity: 

His Holiness the Supreme Pontiff Pius IX, moved by his pastoral care toward 
the whole Catholic flock and by his peculiar friendship toward the glorious and 
devoted Spanish nation, wishing to promote the good of religion and the usefulness 
of the Church in said Kingdom; and Her Majesty the Catholic Queen, Isabella M, 
according to her traditionary piety and her sincere devotedness to the apostolic 
see, being moved by a like desire, inherited from her ancestors, have determined to 
celebrate a formal concordat regulating all ecclesiastical matters in a stable and 
canonical manner. 



ROMAN CATHOLIC APOS. CHURCH VS. PEOPLE OF PORTO RICO. 35 

To this end, His Holiness the Pope has deemed proper to appoint as his pleni- 
potentiary His Excellency John Brunelli, archbishop of Thessalonica, a domestic 
prelate of His Holiness and assistant of the pontifical throne and apostolic nuncio 
a latere, with a power of a legate in the kindgom subject to Spain. 

And Her Majesty the Catholic Queen, His Excellency Emanuel Bertran de Lis, 
Knight of the Great Cross and of the distinguished Spanish order of Charles III, of 
that of St. Mauritius and of St. Lazarus of Sardinia and of the Neopolitan Order of 
Francis I, deputy to the Cortes and her minister of state, who, after having delivered 
to each other theii" respective credentials and their authenticity having been acknowl- 
edged, have agreed upon the following: 

Article 1. The Roman Catholic and Apostolic religion, which, to the exclusion of 
any other cult, continues to be the only religion of the Spanish nation, shall be pre- 
served forever in all the dominions of Her Catholic Majesty, with all the rights and 
prerogatives which it must enjoy according to the law of God and the provisions of 
the sacred canons. 

Art. 2. Consequently the instruction in universities, colleges, seminaries, and 
public and private schools of whatsoever class, shall conform in all details to the 
doctrine of the said Catholic religion; and to this end bishops and all other diocesan 
prelates who^e duty it is to watch over the purity of the doctrine of faith and morals 
and the religious education of the young in the exercise of this charge shall in no way 
be re.4rained in the exercise of this duty, even with regard to public schools. 

Art. 3. Nor shall any impediment whatsoever be placed in the way of said prelates 
or other sacred ministers fulfilling their duty. Nor shall anyone, under any pretext 
what.-'oever, mole?t them in anything relating to the fulfillment of the functions of 
their offices. Indeed, all authorities of the Kingdom must be careful to show them and 
enforce personal reverence and obedience, according to Divine precepts, and that 
nothing be done which might imply di honor or contempt of them. Her Maje.-ty and 
her Royal Government shall always give their powerful protection and help, if the 
bishops should a-k for it at any time, especially if they are to oppose the wickedness 
of men who attempt to pervert the minds of the faithful or their morals, or when the 
introduction or circulation of bad or sacrilegious books should have to be prevented. 

Art. 4. In all other matters which pertain to the law and the exercise of eccle^ias- 
tical authority and to the ministry of the sacred orders, the bithops and the clergy 
=»ubiect thereto shall enjoy the full liberty established by the sacred canons. 

Art. 5. In view of the weighty reasons of necessity and convenience which suggest 
such a course, for the greater good and spiritual utility of the faithful, and new divi- 
sion and definition of the dioceses shall be made in the entire Peninsula and in the 
adjacent islands. Hence the present metropolitan sees of Toledo, Burgos, Santiago, 
Sevilla, Tarragona, Valencia, and Zaragoza shall remain such and the suffragan one 
of Valladolid shall be raised to the grade of a metropolitan one. 

In like manner the following suffragan dioceses shall be retained: Almeria, Astorga, 
Avila, Bajadoz, Barcelona, Cadiz, Calahorra, Canaries, Cartagena, Cordoba, Coria, 
Cuenca, Gerona, Guadix, Huesca, Jaen, Jaca, Leon, Lerida, Lugo, Malaga, Mallorca, 
Menorca, Mondonedo, Orense, Orihuela, Osma, Oviedo, Palencia, Pamplona, Plasen- 
cia, Salamanca, Santander, Segorbe, Segovia, Siguenza, Tarazona, Teruel, Tortosa, 
Tuy, Urgel, Vich, and Zamora. 

The diocesis of Albarracin shall be annexed to that of Teruel; that of Basbastro 
to that of Huesca; that of Ceuta to that of Cadiz; that of Ciudad Rodrigo to that 
of Salamanca; that of Ibiza to that of Mallorca; that of Solsona to that of Vich; that 
of Teneriffe to that of Canaries, and that of Tudela to that of Pamplona. 

The prelates of the sees to which another one is annexed shall add to the title of 
bishops of the Church under their charge that of the Church annexed. 

New suffragan dioceses shall be established in Ciudad Real, Madrid and Victoria. 

The episcopal see of Calahorra and of Calzada shall be transferred to Logrofio; 
that of Orihuela to Alicante; that of Segorbe to Castellon de la Plana, when every- 
thing is ready for this purpose in the cities and it is deemed proper, after hearing the 
respective prelates and chapters. 

In cases in which an assistant bishop ehall be necessary in order to improve the 
service of any diocesis, the usual canonical form shall be used in providing the same. 

In the same manner general vicars shall be established aj; points where in \dew of 
the annexation of diocesis provided for in this article, or for any other good cause, they 
should be considered necessary after hearing the respective prelates. 

In Ceiita and Teneriffe assistant bishops are hereby at once provided. 

Art. 6. The distribution of the referred to dioceses, in so far as their dependence 
upon the respective metropolitan dioceses is concerned, shall take place in the follow- 
ing manner: 

The following shall be suffragan to the metropolitan Church of Burgos: Those of 
Calahorra or Logrofio, Leon, Osma, Palencia, Santander, and Victoria. 



36 ROMAN CATHOLIC APOS. CHURCH VS. PEOPLE OF PORTO RICO. 

To that of Granada: Those of Almeria, Cartegena, or Miircia, Giiadix, Jaen, and 
Malaga. 

To that of Santiago: Those of Lugo, Mondoiiedo, Orensc, Oviedo, and Tuy. 

To that of Sevilla: Those of Bajadoz, Cadiz, Cordoba, and the Canary Islands. 

To that of Tarragona: Those of Barcelona, Gerona, Lerida, Tortosa, Urgel, and Vich. 

To that of Toledo: Those of Ciudad Real, Coria, Cuenca, Madrid, Plasencia, and 
Sign en za. 

To that of Valencia: Those of Mallorca, Menorca, Orihuela or Alicante, and Segorbe 
or Castellon de la Plana. 

To that of Valiadolid: Those of Astorga, Avila, Salamanca, Segovia, and Zamora. 

To that of Zarao'oza: Those of Hiiesca, Jaca, Pamplona, Tarazona, and Teriiel. 

Art. 7. The new bonnds and special demarcation of the said dioceses shall be fixed 
as soon as possible and in the proper manner (servatis servandis) by the Holy See, 
for which purpose he will give the necessary powders to the apostolic nuncio in these 
Kingdoms in order to carry out the said demarcation, the Government of Her Majesty 
being consulted therefor. 

Art. 8. All the reverend bishops and their churches shall acknowledge the canonical 
dependence of the respective metropolitan bishops, and by virtue thereof the exemp- 
tions of the bishoprics of Leon and Oviedo shall cease. 

Art. 9. As, on the one hand, it is necessary and urgent to apply the proper remedy 
in order to remedy the serious inconveniences which have arisen in the ecclesiastical 
administration of the four military orders of Santiago, Calatrava, Alcantara, and 
Montesa, and as, on the other hand, there should be carefully preserved the glorious 
remembrances of an institution which had done so much for the Church and the 
State, and the prerogatives of the Kings of Spain as grand masters of the said orders by 
apostolic concession, there shall be designated in the new ecclesiastical demarcation 
a specific number of towns to form a circular district over which the grand master 
shall as up to the present time exercise the ecclesiastical jurisdiction, entirely in 
accordance w^ith the said concession and the pontifical bulls. 

The new territory shall be called "Priorato de las Ordenes Militares," and the 
prior shall have an episcopal character with a title of the Church in partibus. 

The towns which at the present time belong to the military orders and are not 
included in their new territory, are incorporated to the respective dioceses. 

Art. 10. The very reverend archbishops and the reverend bishops shall extend 
the exercise of their authority and ordinary jurisdiction over the entire territory 
embraced in their respective dioceses by virtue of the new circumscription; conse- 
quently those who exercised the same over dioceses situated in other districts shall 
discontinue it. 

xVrt. 11. All privileged and exempt jurisdictions shall also cease, whatever be their 
character and denomination, including that of St. John of Jerusalem. Their present 
territories shall be annexed to the respective dioceses in the new demarcation which 
will be made of them, according to article 7, with the following exceptions: 

1. That of the chief prochaplain of Her Majesty. 

2. That of the vicar-general of the city. 

3. That of the four military orders of Santiago, Calatrava, Alcantara, and Montesa, 
in the manner stated in article 9 of this concordat. 

4. That of the regular prelates. 

5. That of the apostolic nuncio pro tempore in the church and hospital of Italians 
of this court. 

The special powers pertaining to the general commissary of the crusade shall remain 
in force with regard to matters pertaining to his office, by virtue of the brief of dele- 
gation and other apostolic provisions. 

Art. 12. The office of general collector of annuities and unreclaimed property is 
hereby abolished, the commission for the administration of unclaimed property, the 
collection of arrears, and the conduct and termination of pending business, being for 
the present joined to the commissary-general of the crusade. 

The apostolic and royal tribunal of the grace of the "Excusado" is also hereby, 
abolished. 

Art. 13. The chapter of the cathedral churches shall be composed of the dean, who 
shall always be the first chair post pontificalem; of four dignitaries, viz: an archpriest, 
an archdeacon, a precentor, and a teacher of divinity (maestrescuela), and, further- 
more, a treasurer in metropolitan churches; of four ex officio prebendaries, viz: the 
magistral, the doctoral, the lectoral, and the penitentiary, and of the number of canons 
by appointment mentioned in article 17. 

There shall be, furthermore, in the church of Toledo two other dignities with the 
respective titles of first chaplain to kings and first chaplain to muzarbics; in that of 



ROMAN CATHOLIC APOS. CIIUKCII VS. PEOPLE OF PORTO RICO, 37 

Sevilla the dignity of first chaplain of San Fernando; in that of Granada that of first 
chaplain to the Catholic kings, and in the one of Oviedo that of abbot of Covodonga. 

All the members of the chapter shall have therein equal voice and vote. 

Aet. 14. The prelates m.ay call a meeting of the chapter and preside thereover 
whenever they deem it advisable; in the same manner they may preside over com- 
petitive examinations for the filling of the position of prebend. 

At these and at any other proceedings the prelates shall always have the seat of 
honor, and no privilege or custom to the contrary shall be an obstacle thereto; they 
shall be treated with such honor and deference as is due their sacred character and 
their office as head of their church and chapter. 

When they preside they shall have the right to speak and vote in all matters in 
which they have no direct personal interest, and their vote shall also be the deciding 
one in case of ties. 

At every election or appointment of persons which pertains to the chapter the 
prelate shall have three, four, or five votes according as to whether the chapter is 
composed of sixteen, twenty, or more than twenty members. In such cases when 
the prelate does not attend the chapter a committee from the chapter shall visit 
him to receive his votes. 

WTien the prelate does not preside at the chapter the dean shall do so. 

Art. 15. As the cathedral chapters are the senate and council of the very reverend 
archbishops, and the reverend bishops, they shall be consulted by the latter in order 
to hear their opinion, or to obtain their consent in the terms which, in view of the 
variety of the matters and the cases, are prescribed by canonical law, and especially 
by the sacred council of Trent. Consequently any immunity, exemption, privilege, 
use or abuse, which may have been introduced in any manner whatsoever in the 
different churches of Spain in favor of such chapters to the prejudice of the ordinary 
authority of the prelates shall cease at once. 

Art. 16. In addition to the dignitaries and prebendaries who exclusively compose 
the chapter, there shall be in the cathedral churches beneficiaries or assistant chap- 
lains, with the proper number of other ministers and employees. 

The dignitaries and prebendaries, as well as the beneficiaries and chaplains, even 
though they be divided for a better service of the respective cathedrals into sacer- 
dotal, diaconal, and subdiaconal, they must all be presbyters, in accordance with 
the prescriptions of His Holiness, and those not such when they appear to take pos- 
session of their benefices must become such within one year or suffer the canonical 
penalties. 

Art. 17. The number of capitulars and beneficiaries in the metropolitan churches 
shall be the following: 

The churches of Toledo, Sevilla, and Zaragoza shall have 28 capitulars each, and 
that of Toledo 24 beneficiaries; that of Sevilla 22, and that of Zaragoza 28. 

Those of Tarragona, Valencia, and Santiago, 26 capitulars and 20 beneficiaries, and 
those of Burgos, Granada, and Valladolid, 24 capitulars and 20 beneficiaries. 

The suffragan churches shall respectively have the number of capitulars and bene- 
ficiaries which follow: 

Those of Barcelona, Cadiz, Cordoba, Leon, Malaga, and Oviedo shall have 20 capit- 
ulars and 16 beneficiaries. Those of Badajoz, Calahorra, Cartagena, Cuenca, Jaen, 
Lugo, Palencia, Pamplona, Salamanca, and Santander, 18 capitulars and 14 bene- 
ficiaries. Those of Almeria, Astorga, Avila, the Canaries, Ciudad Real, Coria, Gerona, 
Guadix, Huesca, Jaca, Lerida, ]\Iallorca, Mondofiedo, Orense, Orihuela, Osma, Pla- 
cencia, Segorbe, Segovia, Siguenza, Tarazona, Teruel, Tortosa, Tuy, Urgel, Vich, 
Victoria, and Zamora, 16 capitulars and 12 beneficiaries. 

That of Madrid shall have 20 capitulars and 20 beneficiaries, and that of Menorca 
12 capitulars and 10 beneficiaries. 

Art. 18. In surrogation of the 52 benefices mentioned in the concordat of 1752, there 
are reserved to His Holiness, to be freely filled by him, the dignity of precentor in all 
the metropolitan churches and in the suffragan churches of Astorga, Avila, Badajoz, 
Barcelona, Cadiz, Ciudad Real, Cuenca, Guadix, Huc^ica, Jaen, Lugo, Malaga, Mon- 
dofiedo, Orihuela, Oviedo, Plascencia, Salamanca, Santander, Siguenza, Tuy, Vic- 
toria, and Zamora; and in the other suffragan churches a canonship de gracia, which 
shall be determined by the first appointment made by His Holiness. These benefices 
shall be conferred in accordance with the said concordat. 

The office of dean shall be filled by Her Majesty in all the churches and at any 
time and whatever be the manner they become vacant. The canonships ex officio 
shall be filled after a competitive examination by the prelates and chapters. The 
other offices and canonships shall be filled in strict alternation by Her Majesty and 
the respective archbishoj)s and bishops. The beneficiaries or assistant chaplains 
shall be appointed alternatively by Her Majesty and the prelates and chapters. 



38 ROMAN CATHOLIC APOS. CHURCH VS. PEOPLE OF PORTO RICO. 

The prebends, canonships, and benefices which shall become vacant by the resigna- 
tion or the promotion of the holder to another benefice, if not of those reserved to 
His Holiness, shall always and in every case be filled by appointments by Her Majesty. 

The same shall be done with regard to those which shall become vacant sede vacante, 
or those which shall not have been filled by the prelates who should have done so, at 
the time of their death, transftn*. or resignation. 

The first appointment to dignities, canonships, and chaplaincies of the new cathedrals 
and those which may be increased in the new metropolitan cathedral of Valladolid 
shall be the right of Her Majesty, excepting those reserved to His Holiness and of the 
canonships de oficio, which shall be filled in the ordinary manner. 

In any case the persons appointed to the said benefices must obtain the canonical 
collation and institution from their respective ordinaries. 

Art. 19. In view of the fact that, by reason of former vicissitudes as well as on account 
of the provisions of this Concordat, the condition of the Spanish clergy has greatly 
changed, His Holiness on his part and Her Majesty the Queen on hers, agree that no 
dignity, canonship, or benefice shall be conferred of those which require a personal 
residence upon persons who, by reason of any other office or commission, may be 
obliged to reside continually somewhere else. Nor shall there be conferred upon 
those who are in possession of any benefice of the character named any of such offices 
or commissions, unless they renounce one of said offices or benefices, which are con- 
sequently declared to be incompatible in all respects. 

In the royal chapel there may be as high as six prebendaries of the cathedral churches 
of the Peninsula; but in no case shall those be appointed who occupy the first chairs, 
nor canons de oficio, those who have a cura de almas (who administer, etc., the sacra- 
ments of the Church), or two from the same church. 

With regard to those who at the present time and by virtue of special or general 
exemptions are in the possession of two or more of these benefices, offices, or commissions, 
the necessary steps shall at once be taken in order to arrange their condition in accord- 
ance with the provisions of this article, according to the necessities of the Church and 
the difference in the cases. 

Art. 20. In the case of a vacant see the chapter of the metropolitan or suffragan 
church within the term fixed and in accordance with the provisions of the sacred 
Council of Trent, shall appoint only one capitular vicar, in whose person shall be 
vested all the ordinary power of the chapter without any reservation whatsoever on 
its part, and without the power to revoke the appointment after it has been made or 
to make a new one; therefore, any privilege, use, or custom of administering as a 
whole, of appointing^more than one vicar or any other which in any manner whatsoever 
is contrary to the provisions of the sacred canons, is hereby abolished. 

Art. 21. In addition to the chapel of the royal palace, the following shall be 
retained: 

1. That of the Kings and the Muzarabic of Toledo, and those of San Fernando de 
Se villa and of the Catholic Kings of Granada. 

2. The collegiate chapels located in the capitals of provinces where there exists no 
episcopal see. 

3. Those under special patronage, whose patrons assume the obligation to pay 
the excess expenses which the collegiate chapel will occasion the parochial church. 

4. The collegiate chapels of Covadonga, Roncesvalles, San Isidro de Leon, Sacro- 
monte de Granada, San Ildefonso, Alcala de Henares, and Jerez de la Frontera. 

5. The cathedral ones of the episcopal sees which are annexed to others by virtue 
of the provisions of this concordat shall be retained as collegiate. 

All other collegiate chapels, whatever be their origin, age, and foundation, shall 
be reduced, when the local circumstances do not prevent it, to parochial churches, 
with the number of beneficiaries which may be considered necessary for the parochial 
service as well as for the dignity of worship. 

The preservation of the chapels and collegiate churches mentioned must always 
be understood subject to the prelate of the dioceses to which they belong, and with 
the abolition of any exemption or jurisdiction vere or quasi nullius which shall in 
any manner limit the power of the ordinary clergy. 

The colle2;iate churches shall always be parochial and shall be distinguished by 
the name of principal parish, if the town shall have one or more other ones. 

Art. 22. The chapter of the collegiate churches shall be composed of one abbot 
as president, who shall have the power to administer the sacraments of the Church, 
without any further authority or jurisdiction than the economic and financial man- 
agement of his church and chapter; of two canons de oficio with the titles of mag- 
istral and doctoral, and of eight canons de gracia. There shall also be six beneficiaries 
or assistant chaj)lains. 

Art. 23. The rules established in the preceding articles, for the filling of prebends 
and benefices or chaplaincies of cathedral churches, as well as for the government of 



ROMAN CATHOLIC APOS. CHURCH VS. PEOPLE OF PORTO RTCO. 39 

their chapters, shall be carefully observed in all their parts with regard to collegiate 
churches. 

Art. 24. In order that in all towns of the Kingdom the proper care may be given 
to religious worship and to all the necessities of spiritual nourishm.ent, the very rev- 
erend archbishops and reverend bishops shall immediately proceed to make a new 
arrangement and parochial demarcation of their respective dioceses, taking into con- 
sideration the size and character of the territory and of the population and other local 
circumstances, after hearing the cathedral chapters, the respective archpriests, and 
the fiscales of the ecclesiastical tribunals, and adopting on their part all necessary 
measures in order that the preceding arrangement may be considered as concluded 
and be carried out, after the approval of the Government of Her Majesty, within the 
shortest period possible. 

Art. 25. No chapter or ecclesiastical corporation can have the right to administer 
the sacraments of the church and the perpetual curatorr^hips and vicarships which 
were previously attached pleno jure to any corporation, shall be entirely subject to 
the common law. The coadjutors and employees of parishes and all ecclesiastics 
engaged in the service of hermitages, sanctuaries, oratorios, public chapels or churches 
which are not parochial, shall be under the direction of the curate of their respective 
territory and shall be subordinate to him in all that relates to worship and religious 
functions. 

Art. 26. All curatorships, without distinction as to towns or classes or the time they 
become vacant, shall be filled by a public competitive examination in accordance 
with the provisions of the Holy Council of Trent, the ordinaries preparing ternaries of 
those approved or who have pavssed, addressing the same to Her Majesty in order that 
the appointment may be made of one of those certified. Hence, the patrimonial 
privileges and the exclusive or preferred right which in some parts those enjoying a 
patrimony had to obtain curatorships and other privileges shall cease. 

Curatorships of the ecclesiastical patronage shall be filled by the patron appointing 
one of the persons named in the ternary prepared in the manner mentioned b^ the 
prelates, and those of the laical patronage by the patron appointing one of those who 
show that they have passed a public competitive examination in the respective 
dioceses, a period of four months being granted to those who can not do so for the 
purpose of proving that they have passed an examination held in the above-mentioned 
manner, always reserving the right of the ordinary ecclesiastic to examine the person 
presented by the patron, should he deem it advisable. 

The coadjutors of parishes shall be appointed by the ordinary ecclesiastics after 
a synodal examination. 

x\rt. 27. The proper steps shall be taken to prevent any injury, in so far as possible, 
by the new ecclesiastical arrangement to the rijjhts of the present possessors of any 
prebends, benefices, or charges which will be abolished in consequence of the pro- 
visions thereof. 

Art. 28. The Government of Her Catholic Majesty, without prejudice to the estab- 
lishment at the proper time, after an agreement with the Holy See, and as soon as 
circumstances will permit, of general seminaries which will give the proper scope 
to ecclesiastical studies, will on its part issue the proper provisions for the establish- 
ment without delay of conciliar seminaries in dioceses where they have not as yet been 
established, in order that hereafter there may not be within the Spanish dominions 
any church which will not have at least one seminary sufficient for the instruction 
of the clergy. 

Such youths shall be admitted into these seminaries and educated and instructed 
in the manner prescribed bv the sacred Council of Trent whom the archbishops and 
bishops may consider it advisable to receive according to the necessity or utility 
of the dioceses; and in all that pertains to the arrangement of the seminaries, to instruc- 
tion, and to the administration of their property, the decrees of the said Council of 
Trent shall also be observed. 

If as a result of the new division of dioceses two seminaries should remain in one 
diocese one in the seat of the present bishopric and the other in the seat of that 
annexed thereto, both shall be preserved as long as the Government and the prelates 
by common consent consider them useful. 

Art. 29. In order that there may be in the Peninsula a sufficient number of evangel- 
ical ministers and friars of whose services the prelates may avail themselves to under- 
take missions in the towns of their dioceses, assist the curates, attend the sick, and for 
other works of charity and public utility, the Government of Her Majestv, whose inten- 
tion it is at the proper time to make improvements in the College of Missions for the 
colonies, will at once take the proper steps in order that they may be established wher- 
ever necessary, after hearing the diocesan prelates, religious houses, and congregations 
of St. Vincent de Paul, San Felipe Neri, and another order of those approved by the 



40 KOMAX CATHOLIC APOS. CHURCH VS. PEOPLE OF PORTO RICO. 

Holy See, which colleges shall serve at the proper time as places of retirement for the 
ecclesiastics for spiritual exercises and other pious uses. 

Art. 30. In order that there may also be relis,ious houses for women, in which their 
vocation may be followed by those who are called to a contemplative life and to an 
active life of attendins- the sick, teachinj? younq; girls, and other works and occupations 
as pious as they are useful to the people, the institution known as of Ihe Sisters of Charity 
shall be preserved under the direction of the clergy of St. Vincent de Paul, the Govern- 
ment promoting the same. 

The convents for women shall also be retained which unite to the contemplative life 
the education and instruction of girls or other works of charity. 

With regard to the other orders, the ordinary prelates, taking into consideration all 
the circumstances of their respective dioceses, shall recommend the convents in which 
the admission and profession of novices would be advisable as well as the works of 
instruction and charity which it mav be convenient to establish in the same. 

The profession of no nun shall take place until her support is previously provided 
for in proper form. 

Art. 31. The allowance to the very reverend archbishop of Toledo shall be 160;000 
reales annually. 

That of those of Sevilla and Valencia, 150,000. 

And that of those of Burgos, Tarragona, Valladolid, and Zaragoza, 130,000. 

The allowance of the reverend bishops of Barcelona and Madrid shall be 110,000 
reales. 

That of those of Cartagena, Cadiz, Cordoba, and Malaga, 100,000. 

That of those of Almeria, Avila, Badajoz, Canaries, Cuenca, Gerona, Huesca, Jaen, 
Leon, Lerida, Lueo, Mallorca, Orense, Oviedo, Palencia, Pamplona, Salamanca, San- 
tander, Segovia, Teruel, and Zamora, 90,000 reales. 

That of those of Astorga, Calahorra, Ciudad Real, Coria, Guadix, Jaca, Menorca, 
Mondonedo, Orihuela, Osma, Plasencia, Segorbe, Siguenza, Taraona, Tortosa, Tuy, 
Vrgeif, Vich, and Victoria 80,000 reales. 

That of the patriarch of the Indies, if he have not an archbishopric or bishopric of 
his own, 150,000, there being deducted in a proper case from this amount any other 
sum which he may receive as an ecclesiastical pension or under any other title from 
the State. 

Prelates who are cardinals shall receive 20,000 reales in addition to their allowance. 

The assistant bishops of Ceuta and Teneriffe and the prior of the orders shall 
receive 40,000 reales per annum. 

These allowances shall not suffer any reduction whatsoever, neither by reason of 
the cost of the bulls which the Government will defray, nor for any other expenses 
which may occur by reason hereof in Spain. 

Furthermore, the archbishops and bishops shall retain their palaces and gardens, 
orchards or houses which may have been destined in any portion of the dioceses to 
their use and recreation and shall not have been alienated. 

The present legislation relating to expolios (the property left by a prelate at his 
death) of archbishops and bishops is repealed, and consequently they may without 
restriction dispose as they may see fit of the property they leave at their death, being 
succeeded ab intestate by their legitimate heirs who shall enjoy the same right; there 
shall be excepted from the foregoing in either case the ornaments and pontificals 
which shall be considered as the property of the mitre and shall pass to his successors 
thereto. 

Art. 32. The first chair of the cathedral church of Toledo shall enjoy an allowance 
of 24,000 reales; those of the other metropolitan churches, 20,000; those of the suf- 
fragan churches, 18,000; and those of the collegiate churches 15,000. 

The dignities and canons de officio of the metropolitan' churches shall receive 16,000 
reales; those of the suffragan churches 14,000; and the canons de officio of the collegiate 
churches, 8,000. 

The other canons shall receive 14,000 reales when attached to a metropolitan church. 
12,000 when in a suffragan church, and 6,600 when attached to a collegiate church. 

The beneficiaries or assistant chaplains of the metropolitan churches shall receive 
8,000 reales, those of the suffragan churches 6,000, and those of the collegiate churches, 
3,000. 

Art. ;]3. The allowance of the curates of the town parishes shall be of 3,000 to 
10,000 reales; in rural j)arishes the minimum allowance shall be 2,200 reales. 

Coadjutors and curators shall receive from 2,000 to 4,000 reales. 

In addition, curates having their own parish, and, in a proper case, the coadjutors 
shall enjoy the houses destined to their habitation and the gardens or grounds which 
may not have been alienated and which are known as iglesarios, mansos (manors), or 
by any other name. 



ROMAN CATHOLIC APOS. CHURCH VS. PEOPLE OF PORTO ETCO. 41 

The said curates and their coadjutors shall also receive the part belonging to them 
of the surplice fees and other offerings (pie de altar). 

Art. 34. In order to defray the cost of worship the metropolitan churches shall 
receive from 90,000 to 140,000 reales per annum, the suffragan churches from 70,000 
to 90,000, and the collegiate churches from 20,000 to 30,000. 

For the cost of administration and the extraordinary expenses for inspections, the 
metropolitan churches shall be allowed from 20,000 to 30,000 reales and the suffragan 
churches from 16,000 to 20,000. 

For the expenses of the parochial worship there shall be allowed to the respective 
churches an annual sum not less than 1,000 reales, in addition to the eventual emolu- 
ments and the fees which may be fixed for certain functions or which are fixed for this 
purpose in the schedules of fees of the respective dioceses. 

Art. 35. The conciliar seminaries shall receive from 90,000 to 120,000 per annum, 
according to their circumstances and requirements. 

The Government of Her Majesty shall provide by the best means possible to the 
subsistence of the religious houses and congregations referred to in article 29. 

With regard to the support of the religious communities, the provisions of article 
30 shall be observed. 

There shall at once and without delay be returned to the same, and on their behalf 
to the diocesan prelates within whose jurisdiction the convents are or may have been 
located before the late vicissitudes, such property belonging to the same now in pos- 
session of the Government and which has not been alienated. 

But His Holiness, taking into consideration the present condition of this property 
and other special circumstances, in order that the proceeds therefrom may be applied 
with more equality to defraying the cost of worship and other general expenses, pre- 
scribes that the prelates, in the name of the religious communities owning the same, 
shall proceed immediately and without delay with the sale of the said property by 
means of public sales held in the canonical manner, and with the intervention of a 
person appointed by the Government of Her Majesty. The proceeds from these sales 
shall be converted into nontransferable bonds at 3 per cent of the debt of state, the 
capital and interest of which shall be distributed among the convents referred to in 
proportion to their requirements and circumstances in order to meet the expenses 
mentioned and for the payment of the pen-^ions of the nuns entitled thereto without 
prejudice to the Government making up, a= it has to the present time, the sum which 
may be necessary in order to fully pay said pensions until the death of the pensioners. 

Art. 36. The allowances fixed in the preceding articles for the cost of worship and 
the expenses of the clergy shall be understood without prejudice to the increase 
which may be made therein when circumstances will permit. Nevertheless, when 
for special reasons in some particular case any allowance made in article 34 should 
not be sufficient, the Government of Her Majesty will take the proper steps to remedy 
the matter; it shall in the san^e manner provide for the repair of the temples and 
other buildings devoted to worship. 

Art. 37. The amount of the income derived by virtue of the vacancy of the episco- 
pal sees, shall be applied in equal parts for the benefit of the conciliar seminary and 
of the new prelate after deducting the emoluments of the curator who shall be dele- 
gated by the chapter when the capitular vicar is elected and the expenses for the 
repairs necessary to the episcopal palace. 

The income derived by reason of the vacancy of dignities, canonships, parishes, 
and benefices of each diocese, shall in the same manner, after deducting the respec- 
tive charges, be applied to the establishment of a reserve fund at the disposal of the 
ordinary in order to meet the extraordinary and unforeseen expenses of churches and 
of the clergy, as well as the serious and urgent requirements of the dioceses. For the 
same purpose there shall also be paid into the said fund the amount which corre- 
sponds to the twelfth portion of their annual allowance which shall be paid once only 
during the first year by those newly appointed to prevends, curatorships, and other 
benefices; hence any other discount which may have been made for any reason, use, 
disposition, or privilege whatsoever shall cease. 

Art. 38. The funds from which the allowances to the clergy and for worship shall be 
paid are the following: 

1. The proceeds from the property returned to the clergy by the law of April 3, 1S45. 

2. The proceeds from charity of the Holy C'rusade. 

3. The proceeds from the rents and dignities (maestrazgos) of the four military orders 
which are or may become vacant. 

4. A tax upon city and country property and upon the live stock as high as may be 
necessary to make up the amount of the allowance, taking into consideration the pro- 
ceeds mentioned in paragraphs 1, 2, and 3, and other incomes which may hereafter 
be assigned to this purpose in concurrence with the Holy See. 



42 ROMAX CATHOLIC APOS. CHURCH VS. PEOPLE OF PORTO RICO. 

The clergy shall collect this tax, receiving it in products, kind or money, after an 
agreement which it may make with the provinces, the towns, the parishes, or with 
individuals; and in necessary cases will be assisted by the public authorities in the 
collection of this tax, applying to this end the means established for the collection 
of other taxes. 

There shall also be returned to the Church at once and without delay the ecclesias- 
tical property not included in the said law of 1845, and which has not as yet been sold, 
including that which remains belonging to male religious communities. But in view 
of the present circumstances of either property, and the evident utility which must 
result to the Church, the Holy Father prescribes that the capital thereof be imme- 
diately and without delay exchanged for nontransferrable bonds of the 3 per cent 
state debt, the form and rules established in article 35 with regard to the sale of the 
property of nuns being strictly observed. 

All this property shall be appraised at their true value, after deducting any charges 
for the purposes of the provisions contained in this article. 

Art. 39. The Government of Her Majesty, reser\ing the inherent right of the dio- 
cesan prelates, shall issue the provisions necessary in order that the persons among 
whom the property of chaplaincies and pious foundations may have been distributed, 
assure the means of fulfilling the charges to which such property may be subject. 

Similar provisions shall be issued in order that pious charges upon ecclesiastical 
property sold subject thereto may be complied with. 

The Government shall always and exclusively be responsible for those imposed upon 
property which may have been sold by the State not subject to such charges. 

Art. 40. It is hereby declared that the said property and incomes belong to and are 
the property of the Church, and that they shall be enjoyed and administered by the 
clergy on its behalf. 

The funds of the Crusade shall be administered in each diocese by the diocesan 
prelates, being vested for the purpose of the powers of the bull to apply the same as 
prescribed in the last extension of the said apostolic concession, reserving the obliga- 
tions they are subject to by \drtue of conventions celebrated with the Holy See. The 
manner and form in which said administration must take place shall be fixed by an 
agreement between the Holy Father and Her Catholic Majesty. 

The diocesan prelates shall in a similar manner administer the funds of the Lenten 
Indult, applying the same to charitable institutions and acts of charity in the respective 
dioceses, in accordance ^vith apostolic concessions. 

The other apostolic powers relating to this branch and the consequent privileges 
shall be exercised by the archbishop of Toledo to the extent and in the manner deter- 
mined by the Holy See. 

Art. 41. In addition the Church shall have the right to acquire, by virtue of any 
legitimate title, and all the property which it now or later may come into possession 
of, shall be solemnly respected. Consequently, with regard to the old and new 
foundations of an ecclesiastical character, no suppression or union can be made with- 
out the intervention of the authority of the Holy See, reserving the powers vested in 
the bishops in accordance with the holy council of Trent. 

Art. 42. In this connection, in view of the utility of this convention to religion, 
the Holy Father, at the instance of Her Catholic Majesty and in order to secure public 
tranquility, decrees and declares that those who shall have acquired ecclesiastical 
property in the dominions of Spain during the late circumstances, in accordance 
with the civil provisions in force at the time, and are in possession thereof, and those 
who have or may succeed to the rights of said purchasers, shall at no time or in any 
manner whatsoever be molested by His Holiness or the Supreme Pontiffs, his suc- 
cessors; on the contrary, they as well as their successors in right, shall securely and 
peacefully enjoy the ownership of said property and their emoluments and income. 

Art. 43. Everything else belonging to ecclesiastical persons and things, with 
regard to which no provision is made in the foregoing articles, shall be directed and 
administered in accordance with the discipline of the Church canonically in force. 

Art. 44. The Holy Father and Her Catholic Majesty, the royal prerogatives of the 
Crown of Spain, to be reserved and intact, in accordance with the conventions previ- 
ously celebrated between both powers. And, therefore, the said conventions and 
especially the one celebrated between the Supreme Pontiff Benedict XIV and the 
Catholic King Ferdinand VI, in the year 1753, are declared confirmed and shall con- 
tinue in full force in all that is not altered and modified hereby. 

Art. 45. By virtue of this concordat, there shall be considered as revoked, in so 
far as in contravention herewith, all laws, orders, and decrees published up to the 
present time, in whatsoever manner or form, in the dominions of Spain, and this con- 
cordat shall be in forc-e forever hereafter as a law of the State in the said dominions. 
And, therefore, both contracting parties promise for themselves and their successors a 



KOMAN CATHOLIC APOS. CHURCH VS. PEOPLE OF PORTO RICO. 43 

faithful observance of each and every one of the articles contained in the same. If 
hereafter any difficulty should occur, the Holy Father and Her Catholic Majesty shall 
agree to decide the same in an amicable manner. 

Art. 46 and last. The exchange of the ratifications of this convention shall take 
place within two months, or before if possible. 

In testimony whereof we, the undersigned plenipotentiaries, have signed this con- 
cordat and sealed it with our own seal in Madrid on March 16, 1851. (Signed) Joanes 
Brunelli, Archiepiscopus Thesalonicensis [Loco sigilii]. (Signed) Manuel Bertran de 
Lis — [Seal]. 

Therefore, we do commend, etc. 

(Alcubilla, Diccionario de la Administracion Espanola, III, 103-109.) 



Exhibit B. 



LAW OP APRIL 4, 1860. 

Isabella II, by the grace of God and the constitution of the Spanish Monarchy, 
Queen of Spain, to all who may see and understand these presents, know ye: That 
availing myself of the authority granted my Government by the law of November 
4, 1859, to conclude and ratify with the Holy See an agreement, for the main purpose 
of exchanging ecclesiastical property, of whatsoever class, for nontransferable certifi- 
cates of the 3 per cent consolidated debt, and to represent by certificates of the same 
character the remainder of the endowment of the clergy and worship, reserving to the 
Church the right to acquire property established in the last concordat, 

I hereby order the publication and observance as a law of the state of the conven- 
tion celebrated with the Holy See on August 25 and ratified on November 7 and 24 
of last year, the literal context of which is as follows: 

In the name of the Most Holy Trinity: 

The Supreme Pontiff Pius IX and Her Catholic Majesty Isabella II, Queen of 
Spain, being desirous to reach an amicable final agreement relating to the endow- 
ment of worship and the clergy in the dominions of Her Majesty, in harmony with 
the formal concordat of March 16, 1851, have respectively appointed as their plenipo- 
tentiaries: 

His Excellency the Most Reverend Cardinal Santiago Antonelli, secretary of state, 
by His Holiness. 

His Excellency Antonio de los Rios y Rosas, his extraordinary ambassador near 
the Holy See, by Her Majesty, who, after exchanging their full powers, have agreed 
upon the following: 

Article 1. The Government of Her Catholic Majesty, considering the lamentable 
vicissitudes through which ecclesiastical property has passed at different periods, and 
being desirous to insure to the Church forever tlie peaceful possession of its property 
and rights, and to prevent by all means the violation of the formal concordat celebra- 
ted on the 16th of March, 1851, promises the Holy See that hereafter no sales, exchange, 
or any other kind of alienation of said property shall take place without the necessary 
authorization of the said Holy See. 

Art. 2. Being desirous of definitely carrying out in a certain, stable, and independ- 
ent manner the plan of endowment of the worship and clergy prescribed in the said 
concordat, the Holy See and the Government of Her Catholic Majesty agree upon the 
following points: 

Art. 3. First, the Government of Her Majesty acknowledges again formally the 
full and unrestricted right of the Church to acquire, retain, and enjoy the usufruct as 
owner, without any limitation or reservation whatsoever, all kinds of property and 
securites, this agreement, therefore, repealing any other provision contrary thereto 
and particularly the law of May 1, 1855, in so far as in contravention hereto. 

The property which by virtue of this right the Church may acquire and possess 
hereafter shall not be computed in the endowment granted it by the concordat. 

Art. 4. By virtue of the same right, the Government of Her Majesty recognizes 
the Church as the absolute owner of each and every one of the properties returned 
to it by the concordat. But in consideration of the deteriorated condition of the 
greater portion of those not as yet alienated, the difficulty of their administration 
and the various, contradictory, and inexact estimates of their income value, all of 
which circumstances have up to the present time made the endowment of the Church 
uncertain and even incongruous, the Government of Her Majesty has suggested to 
the Holy See an exchange, the bishops being given the power to determine, in accord- 
ance with their parishes, the price of their respective dioceses, the former offering 



44 EOMAJT CATHOLIC APOS. CHUECH VS. PEOPLE OF PORTO RICO. 

in exchanjje for all of them and in consideration of their cession to the State as many 
certificates of the 3 per cent consolidated debt of Spain as may be necessary to cover 
the total \alne of said property. 

Art. 5. The Holy See being desirous that a specific, certain, and independent 
endowment be secured for the worship and clergy, after having heard the opinion of 
the bishops of Spain and recognizing in the present case in view of all the circum- 
stances the greater utility of the Church, sees no objection to said exchange being 
made in the foJIomng manner: 

Art. 6. All the pro])erty mentioned in articles 31 and 33 of the concordat of 1851 
shall be exempted from the exchange and shall remain the property of the Church, 
viz, the orchards, gardens, palaces, and .other buildings which may be destined to 
the use and enjoyment of the bishops. There shall also be reserved to it the houses 
used as the residences of the rectors, together with their gardens and enclosures, known 
by the name of iglesarios, mansos, and others. The Church shall furthermore retain 
as owner the buildings of the conciliar seminaries with the annexed grounds, and the 
libraries and correctional establishments or ecclesiastical prisons, and in general all 
buildings which at the present time are used for worship, and those destined to the use 
and habitation of the regular clergy of both sexes, as well as those which may here- 
after be devoted to such purposes. 

None of the properties mentioned in this article shall be reckoned in the endowment 
prescribed for worship and the clergy in the concordat. 

Finally, as the utility of the Church is the motive vs^hich induces the Holy See to 
permit the said exchange of securities, if the bishop should for special reasons believe 
that an estate situated in any diocesis should be retained by the Church, said estate 
may be excepted from the exchange, the amount of the income derived therefrom 
being reckoned in the endowment of the Church. 

Art. 7. After the bishops have made an estimate of the properties subject to the 
exchange, there shall immediately be delivered to them nontransferable bonds or 
certificates for the full value of said property as well as for the market value of that 
sold after the concordat. After the delivery has taken place, the bishops, properly 
authorized by the Apostolic See, shall make a formal cession to the State of all the 
property which in accordance with this convention may be subject to the exchange. 

The certificates shall be reckoned as an integral part of the endowment of the clergy, 
and the respective diocesans shall apply the interest thereon to cover the same in the 
manner prescribed in the concordat. 

Art. 8. In view of the peremptory character of the requirements of the clergy, the 
Government of Her Majesty binds itself to pay the proper consolidated income to 
each diocesis monthly. 

Art. 9. In case that by virtue of a provision of the temporal authority there should 
be any reduction or diminution in the 3 per cent interest derived from the public 
debt of the State, the Government of Her Majesty binds itself to turn over to the Church 
as many nontransferable certificates of the revenue substituted for the 3 per cent 
debt as may be necessary to fully cover the annual sum which is to be issued in favor 
of the Church; so that this revenue shall at no time and for no reason ever be reduced. 

Art. 10. Property belonging to capellanias colativas (the capital and interest of a 
foundation that requires its possessor to be a clergyman) and other similar pious 
foundations, which by reason of their peculiar character and object and the different 
rights which they embrace can not be included in the exchange and cession the sub- 
ject-matter hereof, shall be the subject of a special convention between the Holy See 
and Her Catholic Majesty. 

Art. 11. The Government of Her Majesty in confirming the stipulations of article 
39 of the concordat binds itself again to pay the State in the manner which may be 
agreed upon by common consent by reason of the charges imposed, whether on the 
property sold as free by the State or on that now ceded to it, a fixed sum which may 
bear the closest proportion possible to the said charges. It also binds itself, in spe- 
cific terms, to fulfill on its part the obligations which the State contracted in para- 
graphs 1 and 2 of the said article. 

A mixed commission shall be created of a consulting character for the purpose 
of examining within one year the charges which incumber the property mentioned 
in paragraph 1 of this article, and to recommend the specific sum which the State 
is to pay by reason thereof. 

Art. 12. The bishops, in accordance with the provisions contained in article 35 of 
the concordat, shall distribute among the convents of nuns which exist in their 
respective dioceses the nontransferable certificates corresponding to the property 
now owned by them and ceded to the State or to the property of the same character 
which may have been sold by virtue of said concordat, or the law of May 1, 1855. 
The income derived from these certificates shall be reckoned as a part of the endow- 
ment of said convents. 



KOMAX CATHOLIC APOS. CHURCH VS. PEOPLE OF PORTO RICO. 45 

Art. 13. The provisions of the concordat with regard to the advance which the 
State is to make for the payment of the pensions of the members of religious orders 
of both sexes, as well as all that is prescribed by articles 35 and 36 of the same with 
regard to the maintenance of religious congregations and buildings which may be 
established in the Peninsula and with regard to the repair of the temples and other 
buildings devoted to worship. The State binds itself, furthermore, to construct at 
its own expense the churches which may be considered necessary, to grant pensions 
to the few living lay friars of suppressed convents, and to provide for the endowment 
of the regular nuns, chaplains, sacristans, and worship of the churches of nuns in 
every diocesis. 

Art. 14. The revenue from the Holy Crusade (?), which forms a portion of the 
present endowment, shall hereafter be devoted exclusively to the expenses of worship, 
reserving the obligations placed thereon by agreements celebrated with tke Holy Sec^ 

The State will continue to make up as up to the present time the amount which may 
be lacking to cover the allowance made for worship by article 34 of the concordat. 

Art. 15. The annual tax which was established by the fourth paragraph of article 
38 of the concordat to m^ake up the allowance of the Church is declared its property, 
and it shall be collected and distributed in accordance with the terms thereof. iS'ever- 
theless, the Government of Her Majesty binds itself to grant any request which for 
local reasons or for any other cause the bishops may advance for the conversion of the 
tax quotas corresponding to the respective dioceses into nontransferable bonds of the 
consolidated debt referred to under the conditions and in the manner stated in 
articles 7, 8, and 9 of this convention. 

Art. 16. In order to ascertain exactly what the amount of the said tax should be, 
each bishop, in concurrence with his chapter, shall, as soon as possible, m.ake a definite 
budget of the allowance for his diocese, observing the prescriptions of the concordat in 
its preparation. And in order to specifically determine in each case the allowances 
with regard to which a maximum or a minimum has been established in the former, 
the bishops may, in concurrence with the Government, select an average, when this is 
rendered necessary by the requirements of the churches and all other attendant 
circumstances. 

Art. 17. Steps shall immediately be taken to make out the new parish districts in 
accordance with the discussion and agreement of both powers. 

Art. 18. The Government of Her Majesty, in accordance with the provisions of 
article 36 of the concordat, will consider reasonable propositions which may be made 
for the increase of allowances by the bishops in the cases provided for in said article, 
and especially those relating to seminaries. 

Art. 19. The Government of Her JNIajesty, granting the wishes of the Holy See, and 
being desirous of giving a new proof of its desire to encourage not only the material but 
also the spiritual interests of the Church, declares that it will not place any obstacle 
in the way of the celebration of diocesan synods, when the respective prelates see fit 
to call them. 

It also declares that with regard to provincial synods and various other difficult 
and important points, it proposes to come to an agreement with the Holy See, having 
in view the welfare and splendor of the Church. 

Finally, it declares that it cooperates with the greatest zeal on its part in order to 
carry out without delay the provisions of the concordat which have not as yet been 
executed. 

Art. 20. In view of the advantages which will accrue to the Church by virtue of 
this new convention, the Holy See, by virtue of the repeated requests of Her Catholic 
Majesty, agrees to extend and does extend the benign guaranty contained in article 
42 of the concordat to the ecclesiastical property alienated in consequence of the 
aforesaid law of May 1, 1855. 

Art. 21. This convention, which is additional to the formal concordat in force of 
March 16, 1851, shall be observed in Spain forever as a law of the State, in the same 
manner as said concordat. 

Art. 22. The exchange of the ratifications of this convention shall take place within 
the period of three months, or sooner, if possible. 

In testimony whereof the undersigned plenipotentiaries have signed and sealed 
this convention with their respective seals. Issued at Rome in duplicate on August 
25, 1859. (Signed) Santiago, Cardinal Antonelli [Seal]. (Signed) Antonio de los 
Rios y Rosas [Seal]. 

Therefore, we order all tribunals, justices, commanders, governors, and other authori- 
ties, civil as well as military and ecclesiastical, of whatsoever class and rank, to observe 
and enforce the observance of this law in all its parts. Given at the Palace on April 
4, 1860. I, the Queen. Santiago Fernandez Negrete, Minister of Grace and Justice. 

(Coleccion Legislativa, vol. 83, p. 267.) 

o 



LIBRftRY OF CONGRESS 



015 814 646 



/ 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



015 814 646 



